■ 



, u 



m 




m HHHIIB 



B m 

■ 



H 



: m m mm 



mam 



DKnBlsnnRlKiK 



HI 



•></ 



H 

uMhBwmVMb 

■Hi 






;■''%■ 









9H»^I^ 



■••■■.•■..■■■ 

H HnHK ■ 

■ 1 



■ ■■ 

SIHMH 



''Ha 



■ ■ 



1^4-V^ou^v A*/icl^uJL S-Vt 



A TRIBUTE 



THE MEMORY 



REV. HENRY J. RIPLEY, D.D. 



|jrinteb for Iprifraie gislrilrotifltt. 



BOSTON : 
Franklin Press : Rand, Avery, & Co. 

1875- 



3X1=4^6- 












PREFACE. 



Rev. Henry J. Ripley, D.D., died at his residence in New- 
ton Centre, Friday evening, May 21, 1875. The funeral ser- 
vices were observed the following Monday. At the house, 
prayer was offered by a former pastor, Rev. S. F. Smith, D.D. 
At the First Baptist Church, the Scriptures were read by Dr. 
Smith, addresses were made by Prof. Stearns, likewise a 
former pastor, and by Dr. Hovey, the President of the Institu- 
tion ; and prayer was offered by his pastor, the Rev. W. N. 
Clarke. The remains were borne to the Newton Cemetery, 
followed by numerous relatives and friends, and by the students 
of the Institution. The next Sabbath, his pastor preached 
the sermon contained in this volume, commemorative of Dr. 
Ripley's relations to the church of which he had been for so 
long a time a beloved member. 

Two of the sons of Rev. Irah Chase, D.D., the revered first 
professor of the Institution, "in grateful remembrance of the 
regard and affection existing for so many years between Dr. 
Ripley and their father, and between the members of both fami- 
lies," have generously provided for the publication of this 
"Tribute." I have been requested to select the material, and 
arrange it according to my judgment. It has been a labor 
accompanied by precious memories, and yet it has been a deli- 
cate task to make the proper selections. Dr. Ripley left few 
manuscripts ; and those at my disposal have been so repeatedly 



4 



corrected by his own hand, it has been no slight difficulty to 
decide upon his final revision. From papers equally valuable, I 
have chosen such as I think will illustrate him as a Lecturer, 
an Expositor, and a. Preacher. 

With the hope that these memorials will perpetuate in the 
mind of the reader pleasant recollections of a life distinguished 
by loyalty to truth, by devotion to the cause of sacred learning, 
by Christian affection for Christians of every name, by love for 
his country, including every race, and by an unselfish interest in 
the temporal and spiritual welfare of all men everywhere, this 
Tribute is dedicated with sentiments of esteem to 

Henry S. Chase 

and 
Heman L. Chase. 

O. S. STEARNS. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



' Address of Dr. Stearns 7 

y Address of Dr. Hovey 24 

7 Sermon of Rev. Mr. , Clarke 35 

y Poem by Dr. Smith 60 

/ Dr. Ripley's Paper on Theological Education . . 62 

Dr. Ripley's Expository Lecture .... 78 

J Dr. Ripley's Sermon 91 

/ Memorials . 105 

., List of Dr. Ripley's Published Works . . .112 



REMARKS. 

BY PROFESSOR O. S. STEARNS, D.D. 

Dr. Ripley occupied a peculiarly influential posi- 
tion in this church. He has been connected with 
it nearly fifty years. He has identified himself with 
it in its weakness and in its strength. He was the 
wise counsellor, the tireless worker, and the discreet 
sympathizer. In his connection with his pastors, 
he has been rather a co-pastor, in the purest sense, 
than a private member. This position will be com- 
memorated by his pastor next Sabbath. His posi- 
tion relative to the Institution, as one of the earliest 
Professors, — a Professor universally beloved by his 
students for his kindness, his fidelity, and his ear- 
nestness, and held in the highest esteem by the 
several faculties with which he labored, — will be 
spoken of at the present time by the President of 
the Institution. My part of this service is a very 
simple one ; and yet so uniquely, for the last twenty 
years, have our lives run side by side, sometimes 
almost interpenetrating each other ; so emphatically 



8 



has he been a father to me, aiding me by his advice, 
his sympathy, and his prayers, both while I was his 
pastor, and since that time ; his life, public, social, 
and churchly, is so photographed upon my memory, 
— I know I shall be in danger of trenching upon 
the province of others, and of saying what, perhaps, 
I ought not to say. To me, Dr. Ripley was an ideal 
man. To all of us, he was a marked man, both for 
his goodness and for the good he accomplished. 
His life was so single in its purpose, so sym- 
metrically developed, and so harmonious in its 
movements, it is much easier to say what he was 
not, than to delineate him as he was. Some lives 
are distinguished by special excellences, angulari- 
ties, prominences, like mountain-ranges by which 
to map out a globe. Other lives are growths, germ- 
seeds ripening amidst storms and sunshines, and 
gathered at last, " as a shock of corn cometh in its 
season ; " or, to change the figure slightly, they are 
like a tree planted by streams of water, whose leaf 
does not wither; and whatsoever they do prospers. 
Dr. Ripley realizes to me the ideal man of the first 
Psalm, more perfectly than any one I ever knew. 

As my part of this service, indulge me while I 
give a brief biographical sketch of his external life, 
and a brief summary of that life. 

Rev. Henry Jones Ripley, D.D., was born in 



Boston, Jan. 28, 1798. He fitted for college at the 
Boston Latin School (a medal scholar), entered Har- 
vard University at the age of fourteen, and graduated 
with the class of 1816, — a class much noted for its 
distinguished men. For a few months after his 
graduation, he devoted himself to teaching in North 
Hampden, Me., where he became a disciple of 
Christ, and decided to give himself to the work of 
the ministry. For this purpose, he pursued his 
theological studies at the Andover Theological 
Seminary, graduating in 18 19. Among his class- 
mates at Andover, we find the names of Jonas King, 
the well-known missionary in Jerusalem and in 
Athens ; Charles B. Haddock, the scholarly pro- 
fessor in Dartmouth College; Worthi no-ton Smith, 
Joseph Torrey, and John Wheeler, each an honored 
president of Middlebury College, Vt. ; and Fran- 
cis Wayland, the late beloved president of Brown 
University. It was a class of rare excellence and 
efficiency ; and our good friend both honored it, 
and was honored by it. While in the seminary 
he became interested in the spiritual welfare of the 
colored people in the South. The Rev. Pliny Fisk, 
the pious and devoted missionary in Palestine, of 
the class next above him, was his intimate friend. 
At the close of his seminary course, Mr. Fisk was 
sent by the prudential committee of the American 



IO 



Board to the South, as an agent for diffusing mission- 
ary intelligence. He travelled extensively in Georgia, 
and became acquainted with the destitution of many 
parts of that State. Having learned, while in Sa- 
vannah, that plans were being formed for the spirit- 
ual culture of Georgia by a Society composed of 
the members of the several evangelical churches in 
that city, he mentioned the name of his friend 
as one fitted for such a service. " I had become 
deeply interested in the condition of the colored 
people," says Dr. Ripley, in a brief statement of 
his feelings at this period of his life, " partly, per- 
haps, because a number of colored families were 
settled in a lane not far from my parents' residence, 
among whom, in my vacations, I used to hold 
religious meetings, and whom I visited, family 
by family, for religious purposes ; and princi- 
pally through reading Clarkson's ' History of 
the Abolition of the Slave Trade by England.' 
Though the Missionary Society was not designed 
for the special benefit of the colored people, 
yet it was natural to suppose that a missionary 
in Georgia would have to do with them as well as 
with the whites. I was not, therefore, indisposed to 
entertain the thought of undertaking a tour of 
missionary service for a few months." In due time 
he received an appointment, and, preparatory to it, 



was ordained as an Evangelist in the Baldwin Place 
Church, Boston, Nov. 7, 181 9. The centre of his 
field of labor was North Newport, Liberty County ; 
but his work extended into several neighboring coun- 
ties. In a few months, however, he relieved him- 
self from his connection with the Missionary Soci- 
ety, and, by their consent, became the pastor of the 
churches in North Newport and Bryan Neck. Of 
this first settlement, he modestly says, " My services 
were, to myself at least, interesting. On the first 
occasion of my administering baptism, nineteen 
persons, all colored, were baptized." Returning to 
the North on a visit, during his first year's sojourn 
in the South, he received an invitation to visit the 
Baptist church in Eastport, Me., with a view to set- 
tlement. He made the desired visit, and received a 
call to become pastor ; but after testing the climate 
for a year, and satisfying himself that his duty did 
not lie in that direction, he declined the call, and 
returned to his home in Boston. He was again 
invited to his former field in Georgia, where he 
labored with much success from 1821 to 1826. It 
was here he was married to his life-long, devoted, 
beloved companion, — her who has known by sad 
experience what bereavement was, but never as 
to-day. She knows, however, the wealth of the 
sympathy in her Saviour's heart, and the strong, 



12 



tender sympathy which warms towards her from the 
children who love her, and the friends who would 
comfort her. 

In September, 1826, Dr. Ripley was invited to 
the chair of Biblical Literature and Pastoral Duties 
in the Newton Theological Institution. This pro- 
fessorship he filled with great acceptance until 1832, 
when the appointment of Rev. James D. Knowles 
of Boston, as Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pas- 
toral Duties, allowed him to give his entire time to 
his favorite study, Biblical Interpretation. In con- 
sequence of the death of Prof. Knowles, in 1839, 
he was transferred to the vacant chair of Sacred 
Rhetoric and Pastoral Duties, — a position he occu- 
pied with marked vigor until 1857, when, on account 
of necessary changes in the corps of instructors, 
he became Associate Professor of Biblical Litera- 
ture and Interpretation, continuing in this sphere 
of labor until his resignation in i860. His work as 
a Professor in the Institution covers a period of 
thirty-four years. This instruction, however, was not 
limited to his special departments. He filled gaps ; 
he supplied deficiencies ; he added to his routine 
work extra labors. During the necessary absence 
of his associate professors on account of health, he 
supplied their place, although, as he writes of the 
year 1858-59, it was "to the lasting injury of my 



13 

nervous system." He never spared himself. He 
gave himself unselfishly to every pressing demand. 
By a careful survey of his professional life, it ap- 
pears that he taught more or less in every depart- 
ment of the Institution's curriculum. He did this 
diligently and laboriously. Though, probably, he 
taught Church History not more than one year, I 
find among his papers a full and complete outline 
of the history of the Church, its doctrines, and its 
ecclesiasticism. He was a rounded-out scholar for 
his times, and was thus able to adapt himself to 
every special demand. I do not say that he taught 
equally well whatever he attempted. I do not 
know. It would be marvellous if he did. But for 
a teacher to pass from Biblical Criticism to Sacred 
Rhetoric, and from Sacred Rhetoric to Church His- 
tory, and from Church History to Theology, requires 
not only adaptability, but a familiarity with the 
broad range of sacred studies, indicative of rare 
mental discipline and of comprehensive acquisitions. 
For about five years after his resignation, he de- 
voted himself to miscellaneous scholarly work, revis- 
ing his books, re-writing his lectures, preparing for 
publication his "Church Polity" and his " Commen- 
tary on the Epistle to the Hebrews." But he longed 
for a more public life. He was eager to do good in 
a more effective form. His early passion for "the 



14 



elevation of the colored race in the United States, by 
common school education, and by the improvement 
of the colored preachers, and those who might be- 
come preachers," returned. And when, at the close 
of the war, the attention of Northern Christians 
was directed to the condition of the Freedmen, he 
availed himself of an appointment by the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society " as a missionary to 
preach the gospel, and in various ways to promote 
the efficiency of the colored Baptist ministers and 
churches in Savannah and the vicinity, and to in- 
struct such young men of color as might be looking 
forward to the ministry." In this service he contin- 
ued about nine months. How well he wrought, how 
strong were his sympathies towards those so igno- 
rant, what trials he endured during that service, 
with what judicious care he sought to elevate those 
whom he taught, and how thoroughly he compre- 
hended the difficulties in this direction, which both 
North and South are now seeking to overcome, all 
of us know who remember his intelligent report of 
his labors to the Home Mission Society at its anni- 
versary in Boston, in May, 1866. 

In the fall of the same year (1866), he was re- 
quested to take charge of the Library of the Institu- 
tion. He accepted. It was a care which was genial 
to him, and to which he cheerfully devoted himself. 



15 

Often did he say to me, " The Library is my idol 
now. If I can only see it increase in scope and au- 
thority, the crowning wish of my life will be secured." 
Speaking of a certain set of books, quite costly, 
which he wished to secure, " If" said he, " we can 
place that set on our shelves, I shall be ready to 
depart." Steadily did he pursue his purpose. Ear- 
nestly did he solicit aid from sources beyond the 
designated funds. Never did he solicit in vain. 
His wish in regard to the work referred to was grati- 
fied; and the completed catalogues of the library, 
that of authors, and that of subjects; the completed 
sets of books, or those nearly completed, which were 
previously almost worthless ; the winnowing of du- 
plicates, and the purchase of what was permanently 
valuable; the minute accuracy of his daily toil, and 
the large additions made by his suggestion, — all bear 
witness to his scrupulous fidelity, and determined 
purpose to fill up the measure of his days with use- 
fulness. It was his last work. It was comparatively 
an unseen work ; but it was an emblem of himself. 
It was a finished work. The Report of his labor in 
the Library during the last year, already prepared 
for the auditor, and for the inspection of the Trus- 
tees at their next meeting,* symbolizes his public life 

* His death occurred May 21. The Trustees held their annual meeting 
June 8. 



i6 



as an exposition of our Lord's life-test : " He that 
is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in 
much." 

It would be wrong, however, to regard the public 
life of our venerated friend as exhausted by his pro- 
fessional connection with the Institution. That in- 
cluded, in the main, his public life. From his 
coming to Newton until his death, he was identified 
with it, either as a Teacher, a Librarian, or as a Trus- 
tee. He loved it as few others. He gloried in its 
prosperity. He gave it his sympathies, prayers, and 
co-operation. It was his earthly idol. But besides 
the honor of preaching the gospel by means of those 
whom he taught what to preach, and how to preach, 
his well-known writings will continue to preach the 
same truths, in a more quiet way, to families, to 
Sunday schools, and to preachers of all evangelical 
denominations, long after the students who loved 
him, and spoke from him as an authority, shall have 
passed to their final award. His Notes on the 
Gospels and on the Acts of the Apostles, on the 
Epistle to the Romans and on the Epistle to 
the Hebrews, were all timely, scholarly, suggestive, 
and instructive. His clear, compact, terse style ap- 
pears in every sentence. The essence of the passage 
considered is at once before the eye. We feel in- 
stinctively the sincerity, ingenuousness, carefulness, 



17 

and judiciousness of a man who knows that he 
stands on sacred ground when expounding the 
word of God, — a man, who, frank in examining the 
opinions of others, and biassed by no dogmatic con- 
clusions, or philosophic theories, has rigidly decided 
that God must be the interpreter of his own revela- 
tion, and that therefore, as all Scripture is the divine 
expression of the same divine mind, Scripture must 
explain Scripture, and the whole must stand by the 
combination of its parts. " There may be dark 
things," he used to say, " which none of us can illu- 
mine. There are mysteries to us ; but there are no 
mysteries in the mind of God. 'God is his own in- 
terpreter, and he can make it plain.' " A friend 
writing to me on the occasion of Dr. Ripley's golden 
wedding, — a man unsurpassed in our denomination 
for his accurate knowledge of the Greek New Testa- 
ment, — said, "Wearied as I often am by wandering 
through the mazes of commentators for a definite 
result, I come back refreshed to the interpretations 
of Dr. Ripley, and find that the gist of the matter is 
all there." Many another scholar would say the 
same. Candor and thoroughness, as well as the 
instinctive faculty to seize hold of and express the 
legitimate thought, distinguished him in his work as 
a commentator, as well as in the class-room. 

I need not speak of his contributions to our 



i8 



denominational literature, of his book on " Sacred 
Rhetoric," his work on " Church Polity," and his 
articles in the " Reviews." We know all about 
them, and have always honored him for them. 

But his earthly toils are ended. His sojourn with 
us has ceased. It is only a few days since we saw 
him climbing the " Hill " with his accustomed vigor 
and resoluteness of purpose. Soon we heard he 
was ill ; but we were not alarmed. Frail as he was, 
we never thought of him as dying. We knew he 
was frequently weary; we knew that the grass- 
hopper was often a burden ; we knew that he was 
wearing out: but we did not believe that he could 
die. So carefully had he guarded his body as the 
temple of God, so pure was the spirit which dwelt 
within that temple, we did not look for death : we 
looked for translation. And translation came. No 
suffering, no pain, no tears, no farewells, belonged 
to him. Like a child wearied with its day's studies 
and pleasures, he wrapped — 

" The drapery of his couch 
About him, and lay down to pleasant dreams." 

Anxious as his last hours were to those around him, 
anxiety on his part had fled. It was a hallowed 
scene. None dared to break the spell. A heaven- 
ly halo rested upon his brow ; and his last breath 



19 

was a benediction. All we knew was that he was 
asleep, — 

"Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep, 
From which none ever wakes to weep, — 
A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes." 

We saw him just as he expressed himself with his 
last words to me, — "unharnessed." " You see me 
now unharnessed" said he. And when I responded, 
" Well, Doctor, the yoke has not galled, has it ? " 
" No," he replied with his accustomed smile ; " the 
yoke has been easy, and the burden light." 

" His youth was innocent, his riper age 
Marked with some acts of goodness every day ; 
And, watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, 
Faded his late declining years away. 
Cheerful, he gave his being up, and went, 
To share the holy rest that waits a life well spent." 

Such is a meagre outline of the man universally 
esteemed during a public career of more than half 
a century. He was esteemed for his intrinsic worth 
and for his actual achievements. He has been before 
the world all this time as a preacher, a pastor, a 
teacher, and an author ; and the summary of his 
success, may, I think, be compressed into two 
characteristics, — his goodness of heart and his 
singleness of purpose. 



20 



The verdict of one is the verdict of all, — that he 
was eminently good. " Good " is the one choice word 
we all love to apply to him, with which to jewel his 
memory. Neighbors called him the good man. 
Students called him the good teacher. His associ- 
ate teachers recognized his unselfish, peace-loving, 
peace-making goodness. His brethren in the min- 
istry appreciated his goodness, and pronounced it 
a virtue of commanding power. It was an unmin- 
gled, sterling goodness. It was not in him a nega- 
tive excellence ; nor was it tainted with the 
weakness of indifferent pliability. He was gentle 
in spirit as the zephyr, and strong as a west 
wind. He was kind, and yet he was firm. He 
was as catholic towards the opinions of others as 
the air he breathed; and yet he was as solid in 
his own convictions as a rock. He did not seek 
esteem and love, and yet he commanded both love 
and esteem. Few men dared tread rashly into the 
sanctuary of his heart, and yet no man but felt the 
sanctity of that heart. He was not demonstrative 
in the exhibition of his religious emotions : he was, 
in fact, very reticent about them. But his kinship in 
spirit with the spirit of his Lord and Master com- 
pelled him to be known and read of all men. Like 
the glory of spring blossoms, his piety burst forth 
from his inner nature, and shed a sacred fragrance 



21 

all around him. He made no claim to public recog- 
nition, by fascination of manner or brilliancy of 
matter. He was content to work unheralded and 
unknown. But the fire of love was in his soul, and 
it could not but vent itself in heat. His life was 
like his piety, from germ to fruitage almost unob- 
served even by himself. He knew not the day nor 
the hour when he passed from death into life. He 
always believed that the change had taken place 
before he justly recognized it. What he did know 
was, that he delighted to seek to know the will of 
God, and do it. Resting as a child on the sacrifice 
of Christ as his basis for present and future salva- 
tion, the faith which was in him was a growth, and 
his Christian character was a growth, — a growth of 
rare beauty and of exquisite symmtery. Tenderly 
alive to the requirements of the law, and exacting 
its fulfilment in himself to the verge of possibility, 
he rejoiced in the sunshine of redeeming grace. 
He could not be angular in his life or in his reli- 
gious beliefs, if he had tried. God was to him the 
infinite One. God's word to him was a completed 
whole. God's claim upon him was "to come into 
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the 
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of 
the stature of the fulness of Christ." " Not that he 
had already obtained the prize, or was already per- 



22 



fected " (he would quickly check me, if I so said) ; 
" but he pressed onward, if he might but lay hold of 
that for which he was laid hold of by Christ Jesus." 
Hence the greatness of his goodness : hence we 
crown him to-day with the one word, good. 

This goodness was, perhaps, most apparent to us 
by his singleness of purpose ; for, to the observer, 
it is what a man does, rather than what he is, which 
decides the value of human life. It is an erroneous 
criterion ; but it is the common one. And, in the 
case of Dr. Ripley, he can easily abide the test. 

Uniting the several parts of his life, and summing 
up the items so as to make a whole, considering, as 
we should, that the whole was the result of a spirit 
incased within a weak body, I think we shall all 
acknowledge that his fifty years of toil were years 
of marvellous achievement. 1 need not dwell upon 
the particulars. They are certainly suggestive of 
variety in form, and of solidity in substance. What- 
ever he undertook, he did well. Whatever he 
achieved, he wrought out by slow, painstaking, con- 
centrated method. He was minute in his investiga- 
tions, and accurate in his results. He was earnest, 
and consecrated to the work in hand. He deemed 
it no hardship to spend days on a single passage of 
Scripture, or to determine the meaning of a single 
word. He toiled steadily on, undeterred by per- 



23 

sonal ease, unchecked by personal relief, his mind 
fixed on one thing, ever repeating to himself the 
maxim of the apostle : " This one thing I do." He 
could not toss off work with a smile. He could not 
leave to others what he could do himself. The thing 
right before him, to teach, or to preach, to write 
books, or to instruct freedmen, to restore a mis- 
guided disciple in his own church, or to unravel 
the difficulties of some disorganizing church, to 
labor for the healthy growth of his denomination at 
home, or to counsel for the aid of its missionaries 
abroad, whatever engaged him absorbed him, and 
became the atmosphere of his existence. In this 
way, the singleness of his purpose gives fragrance 
to his memory. " The fathers, where are they ? " 
" Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for 
there is a future to the man of peace." 



ADDRESS. 

BY PROFESSOR ALVAH HOVEY, D.D. 

I have been asked to say a few words on this 
occasion concerning my honored teacher and asso- 
ciate in labor, who has literally fallen asleep in Jesus ; 
and, though I am grateful for the privilege of bear- 
ing public testimony to his worth, I am deeply sen- 
sible of my inability to do it as I would. It may 
seem to you an easy matter for me to speak to 
neighbors and friends of one who was so long with 
us, and whose life was at all times so transparent 
and sincere. But while there is no possible motive 
for the use of extravagant language in the present 
service, since the character of Dr. Ripley needs no 
praise to make it beautiful, and no homage of words 
to make it noble, there is abundant reason for solici- 
tude, lest some word that is spoken may fail to 
represent the exact truth, or some thought that is 
uttered mar the impression which his life has made 
on your hearts. 

More than three weeks ago, with no premonition 



25 



of what was to come, I wrote these words : " Of the 
second Professor in the Seminary, Rev. Henry J. 
Ripley, D.D., I must be suffered to speak from the 
heart. For to say that he taught in the Institution 
thirty-four years with success, giving instruction at 
different times in every branch of study belonging 
to the regular course ; that his teaching was uni- 
formly clear, trustworthy, and to the point; and 
that his writings, whether controversial or exposi- 
tory, have been a credit to our denomination, — is but 
a part of what may be truly affirmed. In my inter- 
course with him during a period of thirty years, I 
have never discovered a trace of unfairness in his 
judgment, of self-will in his temper, or of obliquity 
in his conduct. I have always found him a lover 
and a maker of peace, ready to suffer wrong, but 
not to do wrong ; and while it is true, that, when 
judged by the divine standard, ' in many things 
we all offend,' I can point to him, and say in the 
language and sense of the Psalmist, ' Mark the 
perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end 
of that man is peace.' " Little did I foresee, when 
putting these sentences on paper, that the last 
expression would be fulfilled so soon. Little did I 
imagine, when venturing to describe him as " the 
perfect and upright man," sure of a peaceful end, 
that, before the day when these words were to be 



26 



read, he would have ceased to breathe, as a little 
child sinks to rest. 

The estimate which I expressed of his work is 
confirmed by the following language used by the 
Trustees when he resigned his place in the Faculty 
(i860): "The Trustees cannot permit the Rev. 
Henry J. Ripley, D.D., to retire from service in the 
Newton Theological Institute, without putting on 
permanent record, and making public, an expres- 
sion of their estimate of his personal worth and his 
official services. 

" For thirty-four years he has sustained the rela- 
tion, and performed the duties, of a Professor, not 
always in the same department, but uniformly, in 
whatever chair, with credit to himself, and with 
satisfaction to those whom he has served. 

" His purity of character, his amenity of manners, 
his eminent prudence, his unwearied devotedness 
to his appropriate work, his patient sacrifices in 
times of trial, have greatly endeared him to all who 
have been under his instruction, and commanded 
the respect and confidence of all the friends and 
supporters of the institution. 

" His retirement creates a chasm which will not 
easily, in all respects, be filled. A generation of the 
servants of Christ has passed under his eye, and 
received the impress of both his able tuition and 



27 

his genial influence; and to the churches and to 
the world has accrued large benefit from the posi- 
tion which he has faithfully occupied, and the labors 
which he has unostentatiously performed." 

Every member of the Board who was present 
gave his vote in favor of this testimony ; and I 
hazard nothing in affirming that every one gave it 
with a clear conscience ; for it was but a simple 
and truthful acknowledgment of services continued 
with unsurpassed fidelity through a longer period 
than has been filled by the labors of any other 
Professor in the seminary. 

But to-day, as I look back over many years of 
labor and of friendship with Dr. Ripley, several 
traits of his character rise before my mind with 
special distinctness ; and to these I will now briefly 
refer. 

One of them was devoutness of spirit. He was 
a godly man, a worshipper of the Most High. No 
person could be much in his company without 
feeling this. His piety towards God was not put 
on for a day or an hour, as if to meet the require- 
ments of professional life, or to satisfy the irregular 
claims of conscience ; but it was in the depths of his 
heart, and, therefore, revealed itself constantly, and 
without effort, in the tones of his voice, in the light 
which shone from his eye, and in the serious 



28 



though pleasant smile which often rested on his 
face. To me he has seemed like one who was 
walking with God, like one whose work was allied 
to worship, and whose worship was singularly 
devout. Irreverent language was a stranger to his 
lips ; and I believe that he would not have repeated 
such language, though it had been as full of wit 
as it often is of sin. In prayer, his words betokened 
filial confidence in God, but a confidence full of 
awe and wonder and worship ; and it may almost 
be said, that, by the devoutness of his spirit, his 
whole life, for years, was rendered, in the words of 
Origen, "one great connected prayer." Those of 
you who have joined with him frequently in social 
worship, and who have observed him closely when 
performing the ordinary duties of life, will indorse 
the correctness of what I have just said. 

Faith in Christ was another trait of his char- 
acter. This, indeed, was the centre and spring of 
his religious life. He trusted not in his own 
uprightness, but in the Saviour of lost men. " Re- 
pentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ," he felt to be as necessary for himself as 
for the thief on the cross. And the Epistle to the 
Hebrews was one of the sweetest books of the 
New Testament to his heart, because it sets forth 
so distinctly the sacrificial and intercessory work 



2 9 

of the Saviour. Oh, how often have I heard him 
extol the redeeming grace of God, and repeat the 
thought expressed in the pathetic lines : — 

" Nothing in my hands I bring : 
Simply to thy cross I cling." 

Dr. Ripley was not, then, a merely devout man, 
like Cornelius before he listened to Peter, but a 
trustful disciple of Christ, like John the evangelist, 
a believer in Jesus as " the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sin of the world." And it was 
this faith which oftentimes, if not always, lifted 
him quite above despondency in trouble. Never 
shall I forget one occasion, when with me he strove 
to pour light into a despairing soul by pointing 
it away from self to the sin-atoning Lamb ; and 
the vivid assurance which I then gained of his 
own faith in the Saviour, as being even more 
absolute than he himself imagined, has remained 
unshaken from that hour to the present. The 
chief glory of his character was an affectionate 
confidence in Christ. 

Reverence for truth was another trait of his 
character. And this is a radical virtue. Without 
it, there can be no genuine manhood. Without 
it, every other virtue is weak, if not worthless. 
Profound reverence for truth is a prime qualifica- 



30 

tion for any place of trust, and especially for the 
work of a scholar and teacher, especially for one 
whose very business it is to discover the highest 
verities of being, that he may make them known 
to others. And certainly no man with whom I 
am acquainted has given me better evidence of 
his veneration for pure, unadulterated truth than 
Dr. Ripley. To him it was sacred; an object of 
love, indeed, but at the same time an object of awe, 
holy as well as beautiful. Hence it was, that, 
having satisfied himself of the truth of the Scrip- 
tures, he was a remarkably candid, reverent, and 
successful student of the same. Hence it was, 
that, even in controversy, he did not sacrifice accu- 
racy to force of expression, nor seem to pass for a 
moment under the influence of any lower motive 
than a desire to set forth the truth without any 
tincture of error. Hence it was, that, in the class- 
room, his reasons for any opinion were always lis- 
tened to with respect, and generally accepted as 
conclusive. But his reasons were rarely of a spec- 
ulative character : in almost every case, they were 
drawn from the word of God, the lessons of expe- 
rience, or the facts of history. No person could 
be under his tuition for any considerable time 
without being convinced that he was as free from 
the influence of prejudice as it is possible for 



3 1 

one to be in this imperfect state. A holy loyalty 
to the God of truth controlled his spirit in the 
work of investigation and in that of instruction. 
As he aimed at perfect accuracy of conception, 
he naturally sought for equal accuracy of expres- 
sion ; and the influence of his teaching tended, I 
am sure, to make his pupils faithful students of 
the divine word, and safe expositors of its meaning. 

Fidelity in service was another trait of his charac- 
ter. He gave himself to his work, carrying that 
work on his mind and heart, and using all his 
strength for the accomplishment of it. He was 
regular, systematic, punctual, in the discharge of 
his duties. Up the " Hill " in autumn or winter, 
through rain or snow, would he climb with patient 
step, whether to meet his class, or to open the 
library ; and rarely, I believe, was he a moment 
too late for his task. I have admired his method, 
w T ondered at his resolution, and been grateful for 
his example ; but I have sometimes feared that 
his strength would be weakened in the way, and 
more than once have I suggested to him my fear. 
Yet he would not lay aside the beautiful habit 
of his life, but continued to the last punctual, and 
attentive to all the details of his work. Perhaps 
it was best for him so to be. Perhaps the useful 
labor which he performed brought more of refresh- 



32 

ment than of weariness to his nature ; for the 
two sides of our being are mysteriously united. 
A contented mind is often the best friend of a fail- 
ing body ; and congenial employment is sometimes 
pre-requisite to the possession of a contented mind. 
Happily, then, we may believe that his long-cher- 
ished habit of regular service was not maintained 
by Dr. Ripley to the detriment of his health, but 
that what was a source of power to him in early 
manhood was also a blessing when he had passed 
the age of threescore and ten, and might expect, 
with the Psalmist, trouble and sorrow. Rarely 
does a follower of Christ enjoy the privilege of 
performing so much useful service at so late a 
period in life, and still more rarely is one able to 
perform it so well. 

■ Magnanimity was another trait of Dr. Ripley's 
character. His soul was great, and capable of the 
most generous action. The relations which I have 
held to him for many years justify me in speaking 
positively on this point. He was great enough to 
care more for the common good than for his own, — 
great enough to be silent as to his own preferences, 
that he might gratify those of other men, — great 
enough to waive his own rights for the sake of 
peace and in the interest of true charity, — great 
enough to rejoice with those that rejoice, as well 



33 

as weep with those that weep, — great enough to 
be forbearing and forgiving, to be true without 
self-will, and firm without harshness. His was not 
a timid soul, without judgment or conviction, but, 
rather, a Christian soul, fair, large, benevolent, 
capacious of light, looking at men with kindly, 
unselfish, hopeful eye, doing justice, loving mercy, 
and walking humbly with God. 

These are some of his excellences as I recall 
them to-day. But no analysis can show the full 
beauty of his character. It was harmony itself: 
it was woven throughout of choice material, one 
virtue blended with another in closest union. His 
understanding was naturally good, and his memory 
retentive : both were strengthened by education 
in the best schools of Boston, Cambridge, Andover. 
By the grace of God, his inward life was renewed, 
purified, and directed to the highest end. Persist- 
ent study, careful instruction, wise self-control, 
increased his ability for service; and the cultiva- 
tion of every Christian grace through the aid of 
the Divine Spirit changed him more and more 
into the image of his Lord. He was a true 
scholar, a faithful teacher, and an "example of the 
believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in 
faith, in purity." Instinctively do I put myself 
with those who mourn to-day ; for his bearing 



34 



towards me was ever that of a father or an elder 
brother: but I would comfort your hearts, as well 
as my own, by the reflection that he " kept the 
faith," and has come to the " grave in a full age, 
like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." 
And to every other friend I would say, Be like 
him in faith and prayer, " in the patience of hope 
and the labor of love." 

"So live, that, when thy summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan which moves 
To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 



SERMON. 

BY REV. W. N. CLARKE. 

" He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of 
faith." — Acts xi. 24. 

I have undertaken, I fear, more than I am able to 
perform. I have promised to speak of Dr. Ripley 
in his connection with the history of this church. 
As I approached the work, I have wondered wheth- 
er it was right for me to undertake it, since Dr. 
Ripley was already past seventy years of age when I 
first knew him, and since the period of his greatest 
influence here is entirely beyond my personal 
knowledge. I can learn the main facts, perhaps ; 
but I have deeply felt that the true knowledge of 
such a man belongs only to those who have lived 
with him, and borne the burdens at his side. No 
array of facts or incidents can rightly represent such 
a life. One must have the personal knowledge, the 
impression of the life and of the man, which noth- 
ing but long acquaintance can afford ; and I have 
been constantly reminded that a comparative stran- 



36 



ger was attempting to describe an old friend of 
those who heard him. Nevertheless, I have had no 
desire to withdraw from the labor of love which I 
had undertaken. It is the duty of this church to 
make special acknowledgment of such a blessing 
as his life has been ; and this duty is made all the 
more delightful by the fact that he was here long 
ago, to prepare the way for us who have now 
entered into his labors. 

When I sought for a text, it was no easy task 
to find one, — not because appropriate words of 
inspiration were few, but because they were so 
many. It is not a one-sided character that we 
are to consider. It is not a character marked by 
some one excellence, while others, not less impor- 
tant, are conspicuously absent. It is a character of 
great symmetry ; and it seemed as though almost 
any Scripture that told of God's dwelling and work- 
ing in his people would be appropriate as a text. 
A text from Romans, about salvation by Christ 
alone, would be appropriate ; and so would a text 
from Corinthians, in praise of love ; and so would a 
text from the Psalms, about the blessedness of life 
in God. We might commemorate faithfulness, or 
purity, or brotherly kindness, or devotion to the 
cause of Christ, or almost any other Christian grace. 
But no one of all the specific texts would be much 



37 

more appropriate than another ; and I have not 
known what better to do than to come back to the 
word that has been on all our lips, and let this stand 
as the summary of truth concerning him : " He was 
a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of 
faith." A good man : there is no other word, after 
all, as noble as this ; and this is the word that all 
his neighbors and brethren have been speaking 
concerning him ever since we knew that he was 
soon to pass away. 

His personal history is not my theme, neither is 
his work as a teacher and an expositor of the Scrip- 
tures. The service which I offer to-day is only the 
tribute that is due from the church he loved and 
served. As for the personal history, let it suffice to 
say that he was born in Boston in 1798; that he 
was graduated from Harvard College in 18 16, and 
from Andover Theological Seminary in 1819; and 
that, before coming to Newton, he labored for 
several years as a preacher in Georgia. He came 
hither in the autumn of 1826, and became a mem- 
ber of this church on the fourth day of February, 
1827. He came, as you know, to be the second 
Professor in the Theological Institution which had 
been opened, under the instruction of Prof. Irah 
Chase, in 1825. From 1826 to 1875, w ^ tn the 
exception of about a year in 1865-66, Dr. Ripley 
has resided continuously in Newton. 



3« 



Only one other man has had an equal opportu- 
nity to influence the character of this church ; and 
he was the second pastor, the Rev. Joseph Grafton. 
His predecessor, the Rev. Caleb Blood, had served 
only seven years, — from the foundation of the church 
in 1780 to 1787. Father Grafton, as he has long 
been called, came in 1788, and served as pastor for 
nearly half a century. It was not merely by reason 
of his long pastorate that he left a strong impress 
upon the people. It was his nature to be influen- 
tial. A man of keen mind, of strong convictions, 
and of great vigor, he soon began, as the records indi- 
cate, to give new character to the church. New 
dignity and force came in with his administration. 
The average of additions to the church during his 
long pastorate was almost exactly one a month ; 
and that, considering the sparseness of the popula- 
tion, and the small number who came from other 
churches, indicates a success, at least equal to that 
of later years. The church was w r ell taught in his 
day, and was characterized by something of his own 
soundness and strength. 

When Dr. Ripley came, Father Grafton was 
passing into old age ; and there was need of other 
hands to wield the controlling influence that he had 
exerted. He lived, indeed, for ten years longer, 
and continued sole pastor until he was seventy- 



39 

eight years old; but his accustomed vigor, of course, 
was gone. It was natural, in such circumstances, 
that Prof. Chase, as the first well-educated man in 
the community, should be welcomed at once to a 
prominent position, and that Prof. Ripley, also, 
when he came, should find an important sphere 
of action in the church. These two men were 
provided against the time of need, when the 
old pastor's strength was failing. At the same 
time, Deacon Stone, a member of the church from 
his early years, was growing up to manhood. He 
took an active part in the work of the church, and, 
though still quite young, was chosen deacon six years 
after Dr. Ripley's coming. Dr. Chase removed from 
Newton nearly thirty years ago ; but Deacon Stone 
and Dr. Ripley have stood side by side, affectionate 
friends and faithful fellow-laborers, until now one 
of the two has fallen. They have worked harmo- 
niously together, and have stood firmly in times of 
trouble, always loving the church, and doing more 
for it than the people of a younger generation 
know. 

For about a year before Father Grafton's death, 
the Rev. F. A. Willard served as colleague ; and, 
after that event, he remained as pastor. But the 
church had been greatly weakened by dismissing 
members to form neighboring churches; and the 



40 

financial troubles of 1837 had sorely embarrassed 
those who remained: so that in 1838 it was judged 
impossible to support a pastor. Three years earlier, 
indeed, Mr. Willard had been settled with the prom- 
ise of two hundred dollars a year, if so much was 
needed, from the State Convention. But the hard 
times had made matters worse ; and now the church 
felt compelled to do without a pastor, unless they 
could secure one at very small expense. Very 
naturally, they looked to the Institution for help; 
and Dr. Ripley was invited to act as pastor until 
some other arrangement could be made. The 
characteristic account which the record gives of 
this act will serve as a fit introduction to the 
relation that was thus entered upon. " The pro- 
posal was made in view of the fact that Prof. 
Ripley's engagements in the Institution were incon- 
sistent with his giving himself to the work of a 
pastor; but the hope was expressed, that a portion 
of his time might be secured for the benefit of the 
church, for visiting the sick, attending funerals, and 
exercising a general supervision over the affairs of 
the church. It was also regarded as a temporary 
arrangement, to endure only while it should not be 
in the power of the church to secure the undivided 
services of a man wholly devoted to the pastoral 
office." On the next page of the book it is recorded, 



4i 



perhaps in a still more characteristic way, that 
" Prof. Ripley signified his acquiescing in the 
wishes of the church to act as their pastor. He 
distinctly intimated his sense of the very imperfect 
manner in which he could perform the work of a 
pastor, on account of his engagements in the Insti- 
tution. The church were informed that they must 
not expect services from him that would interfere 
with his other duties ; that he could preach for them 
only occasionally, reliance for pulpit services being 
placed on the students, and on such exchanges as 
might be arranged ; and that this arrangement 
must be regarded as a temporary one, growing out 
of the feeble condition of the church." 

Every one who was accustomed to attend our 
church-meetings more than five years ago will rec- 
ognize this as Dr. Ripley's own record. The style 
is as unmistakable as the handwriting. In this 
scrupulously-guarded statement, we perceive the 
character of the man, and at the same time we have 
the key to his subsequent relation to the church. 
This is a good example of his careful and candid 
manner. No hasty promises would he make. No 
responsibility upon which he entered was to be left 
with its limitations undefined. He would not un- 
dertake too much ; he would not promise any thing 
that would require him to neglect his duty: but he 



42 



was frankly and honestly ready to serve, as far as 
he had the power. He was willing to assume this 
additional labor, when once its limits and conditions 
were properly understood; and all who knew him 
might be as certain that he would not slight it, as 
that he would attend to his duties in the Institution, 
for which he so carefully reserved the first place. 

The same scrupulously-faithful spirit appears in 
all the service he rendered to the church. He 
served as clerk of the church from 1838 to the end 
of 1 84 1, and again from 1854 to the end of 1869, 
with the exception of the year he was absent, — 
eighteen years in all. Dr. Smith acted as clerk 
during his own pastorate, from 1842 to 1854; and I 
doubt whether there is a better record in existence 
than that which these two clerks have made. Many 
of us are familiar with Dr. Ripley's clear and exact 
method. I doubt whether one could find a careless- 
ly-constructed or ambiguous sentence in his whole 
record. His transcript of the doings of the church 
was absolutely faithful. It was his custom, also, 
besides keeping the ordinary record, to insert from 
time to time the report of any events that were of 
special interest to the church ; so that his record 
probably contains all that is essential to a knowledge 
of the history of the church in the period which it 
covers. 



43 

In like manner, he faithfully took upon his mind 
and heart every matter in which the church was 
called to act. For many years, he was the leading 
counsellor; and it was no indifferent or merely offi- 
cial counsel that he offered. The interests of the 
church were his own. For many years, beginning 
as early as 1828, he was a member of the standing 
committee, whose duty it was "to examine candidates 
for baptism, and to converse with any who might be 
subjects of discipline." In the work of examination, 
some of the candidates used to think him almost too 
searching and persistent ; but every one knew that 
his motive was love for the honor of Christ. He 
often sought for wanderers, to win them back. 
He gave himself earnestly, whenever there was occa- 
sion, to the work of reconciling alienated brethren. 
All labor that looked toward the progress, purity, and 
honor of the church, appealed to his heart, and com- 
manded his time and his powers. He thought it 
no hardship to spend hours in composing a single 
resolution to be adopted by the church in some case 
of discipline, or other important matter. He so 
thoroughly took the interests of the church for his 
own, that he could not bear that any thing but exact- 
ly the right thing should be said ; and so he would 
write over and over again ; and perhaps his sixth 
draft of a resolution would come to the pastor's 



44 

hands interlined at every fourth word. The same 
desire appeared both in great things and in small, 
— the desire that the action of the church might be, 
not only almost right, but exactly as the Lord would 
have it. If the church ever acted hastily, or unscrip- 
turally, or unwisely, it was not under his leading; and 
so efficient was his influence, with that of other men 
of kindred spirit, that there is singularly little to 
regret or be ashamed of in the history of this church. 
But we shall not understand how great his 
influence became, unless we refer again to his pas- 
toral service. The way for such service was most 
happily prepared. Great revivals occurred in 1827 
and 1832 ; nearly two hundred persons being added 
to the church during these two seasons of refreshing. 
At these times, Dr. Ripley was an active helper of 
the pastor. Father Grafton was old and feeble ; and 
it was by Dr. Ripley's hands that many of the con- 
verts were buried with Christ in baptism. By such 
experiences, he had already become endeared to the 
church, before he entered upon pastoral service. 
For nearly two years, from 1838 to 1840, he filled 
the office to which the church invited him ; and, after 
he felt compelled to withdraw from it, more than 
another year elapsed before his successor, Dr. Smith, 
entered the field. While Dr. Ripley was acting pas- 
tor, the people were not allowed to feel that they 



45 

were pastorless. Indeed, as far as I can learn, he 
did more of pastoral work than of preaching. The 
pulpit was supplied largely by means of others ; but 
the pastoral service which he personally rendered 
was as great as that which most churches receive 
from settled ministers. In this way, he gained a con- 
tact with the people such as no other man besides 
the pastors has had the opportunity to obtain. He 
gained it, and he never lost it. To the day of his 
death, he felt a personal interest in the members of 
the church ; and they had never ceased to regard him 
as a father and a friend. The tie, of course, has 
been somewhat less strongly felt of late, for the 
church has greatly changed, and new members have 
come in, in large numbers, since age removed him 
from active service. Yet he was tenderly loved by 
them all, even to the end; and we can well under- 
stand what an influence he must have exerted over 
the people whom he had faithfully and lovingly 
served as pastor. He had qualifications for the 
pastoral office such as few men possess. His ideas 
of fidelity were both noble and exacting, like those 
of the Apostle Paul; and he applied them to him- 
self more strictly than to any one else. He never 
consciously slighted his work. I can well see, that, 
in pastoral service, he must have been searchingly 
faithful in dealing with individuals. He was the 



4 6 



very man to " reprove, rebuke, exhort ; " for it was 
impossible that he should approach any one on 
an errand of exhortation, without commanding the 
respect of the most unwilling. Yet, with all the 
dignity of his faithfulness, there was a power of 
reaching the heart, which, were it a matter for envy, 
any pastor might envy him. He was so wise, that 
he could enter into the experience of others. Chris- 
tian truth was marvellously balanced in his mind. 
He had no one-sided views of Christian life, to 
make half of the experience of Christians unintelli- 
gible to him. He could enter into the difficulties 
of the mind with which he was conversing; and 
he was wise, almost beyond all other men, in meet- 
ing and removing the perplexities of the thoughtful. 
Knowing the gospel so wisely as a whole, he was 
able to make the right use of its parts. He could 
select the truth that suited any given case, and 
apply it to the difficulty before him. And then, 
who could resist the sweetness that was in it all, 
the gentleness, the love ? Who could stand on his 
dignity against the approaches of such a friend ? 
or resent the gracious influence that led toward 
holiness ? Fidelity, wisdom, tenderness — in these 
noble qualifications for the work of a pastor all 
who knew him will testify that he excelled. 
When such a man had gained the affections of 



47 

a church by pastoral service, he could not fail to 
retain them. Such a relation would not be broken 
by the coming of a settled minister. Dr. Ripley 
was a man who could be loved and trusted and con- 
sulted, without injury to the pastor. He was the 
last man to stand in a pastor's way. Indeed, he 
was as true a friend as a pastor could have. But, 
of course, the people loved him, and trusted him, 
and went to him for counsel. And many there are 
whom he has helped to bear their burdens. It was 
his wont to seek out the afflicted, and offer his heart 
for their help. His sympathy was quick and deep. 
He was wise in drawing out the lessons of affliction ; 
and his knowledge of the word of God gave him 
the best of arguments with which to cheer the faint. 
Beyond all, he possessed that evident personal 
acquaintance with the things above, which seemed 
to give him both the power and the right to intro- 
duce others to them. He was a true spiritual father 
to the bereaved and the dying. Many, also, have 
sought him in spiritual perplexity and doubt, going 
to Dr. Ripley when they could open their hearts to 
no one else. Such always found him a ready 
helper, and were always refreshed by his sympathy 
and counsel. One resorted to him in great per- 
plexity, and almost in despair, and told him all her 
heart, ending her sad confession with, " I think I do 



4 8 



believe in God, but I don't know that I believe in 
any thing else. I don't believe in any mortal." 
Instantly he responded, with his ineffable smile, 
" Daughter, let us pray ! " And his words not only 
lifted her heart up to Him in whom she did believe, 
but brought in, quick as thought, the assurance of a 
precious and holy human fellowship. Many have 
had similar experience, resorting to him in per- 
plexity, and always receiving for their guidance 
some wise and loving word. He was always help- 
ful ; and many have praised God for the grace that 
was given to them through him. 

The influence that he possessed in the affairs of 
the church was always exerted, as I have said, with 
great wisdom. But this is not enough to say of it. 
The element of his influence that was most famil- 
iar to us deserves a fuller mention. I mean, the 
peacefulness of his spirit, the atmosphere of love 
that surrounded him. Let me quote a characteristic 
and suggestive passage from the record of the first 
meeting in which he acted as clerk. How well we 
can imagine the speech which he reports in brief! 
It was in 1838, when Mr. Willard had just resigned 
for want of support. " Deacon Stone," he writes, 
" was requested to act as Moderator. The business 
of the meeting was introduced by H. J. Ripley. 
He briefly mentioned the substance of the recent 



49 



communications between our Pastor and the Society ; 
and after reminding the church of the solemnity of 
the circumstances in which they then were, and the 
necessity of cultivating a spirit of kindness and 
candor, and a sense of their responsibility to God, 
he introduced the following preamble and resolu- 
tions." And the last resolution was, " That, in our 
present circumstances, we feel it specially incum- 
bent upon us to cherish a spirit of prayer, and to 
pursue the things that make for peace." 

Through all the years of his labor in the church, 
these were the ends he sought, — a spirit of prayer, 
and the things that make for peace. Piety and har- 
mony — with these he would be content. And in all 
the trying seasons, such as will come, now and then 
to every church, his voice was on the side of peace. 
And not his voice only: all his tact and judgment, 
and power of planning, were exercised in the inter- 
est of peace and harmony. He prized the unity of 
the brotherhood, and encouraged it with all his 
power. If such a thing were possible, the church 
must remain united, and brotherly-love must be 
unbroken. But, beyond all his special efforts, his 
character stood as a constant appeal for peace. He 
was a man with whom no one could quarrel. No 
one had any thing against him ; and, if he had any 
reason to complain of another, quarrelling was not 



5o 

his way to seek redress. It has always seemed to 
me, however, that it would be almost as difficult to 
quarrel in his presence as to quarrel with him. 
His calmness, his dignity, his readiness with words 
of conciliation and love, would be enough to extin- 
guish any ordinary strife at the outset. He would 
have been a rash man, it seems to me, who should 
expose himself, by unbrotherly words in the church, 
to the punishment of Dr. Ripley's holy kindness. 
And, since he was supported in this respect by the 
influence of other brethren, it came to pass that 
unfriendly words were scarcely ever heard. In the six 
years that I have known this church, I can say that 
I do not remember to have heard a single unbroth- 
erly utterance in any of its assemblies. The new 
members who unite with us come under the influ- 
ence of a kind and friendly spirit; and the chil- 
dren know the church as the abode of peace, and 
not of strife. I have no doubt that we owe this 
great blessing very largely to the influence of Dr. 
Ripley. 

Esteeming him as we do to have been a wise 
counsellor, it is pleasant to know how often his coun- 
sel prevailed. The church almost always followed 
his advice when it was offered. He was never for- 
ward in presenting it; but, when it came, it was not 
a mere opinion or impression : it was a judgment 



5i 

which rested on a comprehensive view of the case. 
It included elements that others, very likely, had 
overlooked; and it often satisfied those who had 
differed from him. Many a time did his voice 
determine the action of the church. After others 
had spoken, and, perhaps, had disagreed, he would 
speak, in his calm, judicial way, presenting the view 
that he considered Scriptural, and commending the 
action that he accounted to be Christian ; and they 
would all quietly vote as he had said. His counsel 
usually prevailed, for the reason that it was felt to 
be right. He made his appeal to the Christian 
judgment of his brethren ; and his views were so 
comprehensive and so just, that they were almost 
certain to be adopted. 

We have called him the beloved disciple, and 
have often compared him to the Apostle John. 
The comparison is a good one in another point 
besides that of love. " I have no greater joy," said 
the Apostle of love, " than to hear that my children 
walk in the truth ; " and to the heart of our brother, 
loving as he was, truth was unspeakably dear. 
Love never rendered him pliable or wavering with 
respect to truth. No man was ever more immova- 
bly grounded as to his convictions of right. If he 
planned for the unity of the church, it was unity in 
truth and righteousness that he desired. Any other 



52 

unity he would have deplored. The church must 
be right: it must stand on scriptural ground: it 
must correspond to the model which the Spirit 
showed in the New Testament: it must act in the 
spirit of the gospel, and do what Christ would do. 
The unity of the church must be unity in this 
holy, Christian action. Few men have combined 
in an equal degree these two desires, — that the 
church might always act as one, and that it might 
never act wrongly. And it is a blessing greater 
than we can estimate, that we have so long had a 
man of such spirit for a leader, and such an 
influence for a ^uidin^ influence in the church. 

No one of his pastors, I am sure, would think of 
rendering such a tribute as I offer to-day, without a 
thankful acknowledgment of Dr. Ripley's influence 
on the preaching, — an influence for which church, 
as well as pastor, has reason to be grateful. They 
who choose may call it bondage, and insist that the 
preacher should be original and independent ; but 
every man who ought to preach will do his work 
with a certain deference to the judgment of the 
hearers whom he knows to be wiser and holier than 
himself. Dr. Ripley was a hearer whom no pastor 
could ignore ; and his presence was a benediction, 
and his judgment was a guide in the way of truth. 

Good hearers are not rare : there are many 



53 



excellent ones in this congregation. But what 
pastor will ever again be blessed with such a 
hearer as Dr. Ripley was ? When he was well 
and fresh, his listening to the gospel was some- 
thing wonderful. No man ever helped the preacher 
more powerfully than he. When his soul approved 
what was said, his head would bow in acquiescence, 
and his face would be fairly radiant with his own 
smile of holy joy. His smile was often beautiful 
in ordinary conversation, in sympathy, sometimes 
in pleasantry ; but his wonderful smile came when 
his soul was delighted with divine truth ; and often 
in the house of God did his face shine, like Ste- 
phen's, " as it had been the face of an angel." At 
such times, indeed, his whole figure was expres- 
sive. I have seen him shrink, and almost shudder, 
with visible pain upon his face, as some sad thought 
which he felt to be true passed through his mind ; 
and I have seen him light up again in an instant, 
his face shining almost with a glory, when some 
inspiring truth of the gospel was presented to him. 
I have often seen the expression of his counte- 
nance, and the attitude of his body, follow the 
thought of a paragraph in which he had become 
interested. I have seen his mind move in sympa- 
thy with my thought, anticipating the course of it, 
attending its progress with corresponding changes 



54 

of attitude and expression, and crowning the final 
expression of it with his radiant smile. Such was 
the habit of his life, in listening to the gospel. I 
suppose he was scarcely aware of his motions: 
certainly he had no idea how beautiful he was, 
or how delightful to the preacher. But every 
hearer will understand me, when I say that there 
is scarcely a face in this congregation (where every 
face is pleasant to me), that I should miss as I 
shall miss the face of Dr. Ripley. 

But there is a deeper reason why his pastor 
must miss him in the house of God. His pastor 
always knew what he wanted, and what he would 
approve. It was not eloquence ; it was not style 
(though he was not insensible to either of these) ; 
it was not sensation : it was truth : it was the 
gospel. The more clear and straightforward and 
correct the representations of Christian truth, the 
better he was satisfied. And he knew what was 
the gospel, and what was not. He could judge 
as few men can. I have often wondered at the 
marvellous symmetry of his views. A young man 
can see that Christian truths are to be balanced, 
one over against another ; that each is to be modi- 
fied by all the rest ; that no truth can be fairly 
known till one has viewed it as a part of the great 
Christian plan. A young man, I say, can see that 



55 



this process is needful ; but Dr. Ripley seemed 
to have gone through the process, and to have the 
results. The gospel lay in his mind in its great- 
ness and harmony. He loved it as a whole, and 
he loved each one of its parts; and whatever, in 
preaching, accorded most nearly with the contents 
of divine revelation, he loved best. There are so 
many hearers in the world who want something 
else, and who manifest their approval most warmly 
when the preacher gives them something outside 
the circle of the gospel! But Dr. Ripley approved 
most lovingly when a man preached exactly what 
ministers are sent to preach; namely, the grace 
and truth that came into the world by Jesus Christ. 
Listening and judging with such a mind, he held 
his pastor to the gospel. I said, just now, that 
it seemed to me impossible to quarrel in his pres- 
ence. It seems to me equally impossible that any 
one should habitually preach, in his presence, 
any thing unscriptural or unsound, or should go 
away from the word of God for the chief themes 
of his preaching. I have always felt that any min- 
ister to whom he listened long would be obliged 
to preach the gospel, and that, whatever else 
might be lacking, the church of which he was a 
member was likely to have the preaching of the 
truth as it is in Jesus. 



56 



For these reasons, his smile in the house of 
worship had a value beyond its beauty, and his 
hearty word of approval was a benediction to his 
pastor. The preacher upon whom he smiled felt 
almost that the Lord had smiled upon him. 

In such a spirit — as "a good man, full of the 
Holy Ghost and of faith" — he has lived among us 
to a good old age. The last years, I need not tell 
you, were peaceful and lovely. His life was calm 
and even ; his piety was the same on every day 
of the week ; his character was beautiful wherever 
it appeared. He was always cheerful. He never 
grew weary of living, but always maintained that 
life was good, and long life was a blessing. This 
world, to him, was not a vale of tears, but a good 
place to live in, — a place in which he esteemed 
it a privilege to stay and work with the Lord. 
His sphere of life had necessarily grown narrower 
as the infirmity of age increased ; but his spirit 
was unchanged, his character was the same. His 
fidelity, his wisdom, his gentleness, all remained, 
and the peace that the Saviour had left with him 
had not departed. He was interested in his work, 
and was regularly engaged in it, until ten days 
before his death. His end was like the calm 
closing of a summer's day. There was not much 



57 

severe pain in the final illness ; and at the last he 
lay unconscious. It was the hour of evening ; 
and the watchers about his bed sat waiting in 
silence for the final breath. All was still around, 
as though Nature herself were hushed in sympathy 
with the peaceful departure of a saint. Scarcely 
a sound came to the room, save the voice of sing- 
ing from the church he loved, assembled for the 
weekly hour of prayer. And, without pain or 
struggle, the breath came fainter and fainter, until 
at length there was no more breath — and all 
was over. Strange that a death in complete un- 
consciousness should be so characteristic! Strange 
that a death in which the man did nothing should 
be the fit crowning of his life and work! But the 
death was peace; and it was the fit crowning of 
the life, simply because the life was peace. 

I must not close without turning to a thought 
that has doubtless been in many minds, and to a 
lesson which it suggests for the men who are in 
active life. " It seems to me," said one of these, 
the other day, "that it is one thing to be such a 
man as Dr. Ripley in his circumstances, and 
another thing to be such a man in a store." I 
could not deny it. Dr. Ripley was withdrawn 
from many of the temptations that beset many 



58 

other men ; and his opportunities of becoming 
grounded in the truth of God were very great. It 
is true that most men have neither the gifts nor 
the special opportunities to be all that he was. 
But my brethren who are in the midst of life, 
absorbed with your work, too busy to seek much 
communion with the word of God, look, at least, 
at this. The duty of a Christian is to make as 
much as possible of the religious life ; but your 
temptation is to make but little of it. Here you 
are reminded how great is the value of a man 
who does make much of the life he lives in Christ. 
Here you behold a man whose judgment is founded 
on the word of God, and whose life is one long 
endeavor to glorify his Master. You see how 
spiritually wise such a man may become. You 
see how rich and ripe his experience comes to be, 
and how lovely is his character. You see how 
gracious and how powerful is his influence in the 
church. You see what he is worth to others 
in holding them to truth and righteousness. You 
see how blessed is his memory. And while it 
may be one thing to be such a man in one condi- 
tion of life, and another thing in another, I beg 
you to take this thought to heart, that it is a 
blessed thing to be such a man anywhere. I would 
have you take the remembrance of this departed 



59 

saint as an argument against the powers that would 
make you worldly. I would have you answer to 
all such influences, " I have seen a man whose 
character was built upon the word of God, and 
whose life was the life of prayer; and I have felt 
that he was of value, because of his piety. I may 
not have all the opportunities that he enjoyed ; 
but I will have all that I can obtain of the blessing 
I have admired in him." By such, a purpose, 
I entreat you to win time to know more of the 
divine Word than business would encourage you 
to know. I beg you to make much of the Chris- 
tian life ; and I call upon every one of you to use 
your strength for the church and for the kingdom 
of Christ. There is no law that says there shall 
be no saints in business. Rather did our Saviour 
say, " I pray not that thou shouldst take them out 
of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from 
the evil ; " and he added, " Sanctify them through 
thy truth : thy word is truth." And so, in the 
midst of the world, with all its work and care and 
strife, there may be mature, holy, scriptural Chris- 
tians. Such, I pray that all the members of this 
church may become, through the grace, and to the 
glory, of Jesus Christ. 



IN MEMORIAM.* 

BY REV. S. F. SMITH, D.D. 

Gone, but not lost ! The star of day, 
Merged in the morning radiance, dies ; 

But holds, unseen, its onward way, 
And walks in glory through the skies. 

The brilliant orbs that guard the night, 
Like priests around their altar-fires, 

Quenched, but not lost, — a living light, — 
Are watching still, though night retires. 

Gone, but not lost ! The burning sun 
Bathes nightly in the glowing west; 

But, when his daily race is run, 

New worlds are by his presence blest. 

Gone, but not lost ! The ummer's bloom 
Lies sleeping 'neath the wintry snow ; 

But richer fruits spring from the tomb, — 
From dark decay fair harvests grow. 

* Read to the Boston Baptist Social Union, soon after Dr. Ripley's death. 



6i 



Gone, but not lost ! Who lives sublime, 
Lives beyond life, — he cannot die ; 

Born for all years, for every clime, — 
His a true immortality. 

Entombed, the reverend teacher sleeps, 
Taken, alas ! yet doubly given : 

His life undimmed, its pathway keeps, — 
One life on earth, and one in heaven. 

We weep, as one by one, we lay 

Our bretxhren with the garnered host ; 

While gratefully the ages say, 
Heroic lives are never lost. 



A THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION. 

The self-evident principle, that a teacher of others 
must himself have knowledge, has been as readily 
conceded in reference to religious teachers as to 
others. The only question which it has been really 
necessary to discuss, relates to the kind and amount 
of knowledge which the preacher should possess ; 
and to this question there has always been a ready 
reply : " The more knowledge the better, provided 
the Bible be understood, and the heart be right." 
An acquaintance with the Scriptures, and personal 
piety, have not only been considered paramount and 
indispensable, but, in some quarters, quite sufficient 
for all the purposes of the ministry ; so that, in 
those quarters, an extended education has been 
ranked among the things that could be dispensed 
with. But so universal has been the feeling that 
scriptural knowledge is highly desirable in ministers 
of the gospel, that, even in the most unpropitious 
times, projects for imparting knowledge of this kind 
to candidates for the ministry, which have been 



*3 



fairly within the compass of the common mind, 
have been regarded with favor. It is to this feeling, 
probably, that the early efforts of several Baptist 
ministers in the cause of education in our country 
are to be traced ; and by this it is to be accounted for, 
that at the present time, when so much more light is 
shed on this whole subject of early education, 
all over our land various small establishments are 
found, purporting to impart the requisite education 
to those who are to be ministers of the gospel, or to 
repair the deficiencies of those who are already in 
the sacred work. 

It is a pity that this feeling has not received a 
better ' direction ; and that, instead of a multiplica- 
tion of inadequate schools, the effort had not been 
directed to the increase of facilities, at numerous 
points, for early general education, and for strength- 
ening, and carrying forward to completion, a small 
yet sufficient number of higher general seminaries, 
and then a still smaller number of strictly professional 
institutions. For nothing can be more obvious than 
that an indefinite multiplication of seminaries pro- 
fessing to furnish the means of the ultimate sta^e 
of education is a weakening of energy as to 
the seminaries themselves, as to the intellectual 
endowments of students, and as to the efficiency of 
churches, which look to such seminaries for pastors 



64 



and preachers. "Divide and conquer" is not without 
a partial application, at least, on this subject. 

In the following pages, I shall consider several 
points relating to theological education, properly so 
called. Not the education at large, which it is 
desirable and proper that ministers of the gospel 
should enjoy, but specifically theological education, 
with particular reference to the ministry, and, 
subsequent, to a course of general education. 

The purposes of such education may be briefly 
stated. They are, to impart a suitable professional 
training, to proper persons, for the pastoral office 
and other ministerial employments in our own land, 
and for missionary service abroad. The possession 
of personal piety and the decision of duty, according 
to the intimations of the divine will, to become 
ministers of the gospel, are taken for granted. As 
there are diversities of gifts, and diversities of meth- 
ods and opportunities for aiding the great interest 
of righteousness, and as men's spheres of labor 
are often changed by the direction of Providence, 
and useful service in one sphere often becomes a 
preparation for service in another kindred sphere, 
it may be mentioned among the indirect results of 
theological education, that it prepares men for a 
great variety of useful labors which the various 



65 

departments of Christian effort require, and which 
are most usefully performed by those who have had 
experience in the Christian ministry. It is also an 
indirect result of theological education, that some 
persons who have enjoyed it, are led by providential 
intimations, at its close to enter on certain services 
for which a part of their theological training has 
happily fitted them ; while, through natural in- 
aptitude, or other causes, they have not become 
particularly fitted by the other parts of their educa- 
tion for the pastoral, or exclusively ministerial 
office. The services to which divine providence 
appears to have led them are highly important to 
the cause of religion ; and a well-furnished system 
of evangelical effort could not dispense with them ; 
nor could any training so well fit them for these 
services as that which is imparted by theological 
education. Still, I call them indirect, because the 
direct and main purpose of the sort of education now 
contemplated, is the preparing for the pastoral and 
ministerial office, at home and abroad, of men who 
are to preach the gospel. A species of education 
which should professedly aim to prepare men to be 
secretaries and agents of lar^e benevolent orsraniza- 
tions, to be professors and teachers in colleges and 
other seminaries, and to be editors of religious 
publications, is not to be expected. And yet, such 



66 



men are eminently needed in the religious world, 
and eminently useful ; and experience, as well as 
the nature of the case, teaches, that the habits of 
thought, and the kind of information which may be 
expected from a thoroughly theological education, 
are peculiarly appropriate to the labors of such 
men. 

In judging of the range of studies and exercises 
which an adequate theological education embraces, 
the purposes already stated should be kept in view. 
For the most efficient prosecution of these purposes, 
a very ample and generous range of studies is 
obviously requisite ; and, in marking out this range, 
there is a very general agreement among those who 
have been called to give attention to the subject. 
A primary consideration here, is the fact that our 
religion is built on facts and documents of an 
authoritative character, and not on philosophical 
speculations, or mere traditions, or pretended docu- 
ments which will not bear examination. A certain 
volume, therefore, is placed in our hands, which 
comprises every thing that is necessary in regard 
to the facts and principles of religion. Naturally, 
then, the first step is to become acquainted with 
this volume ; and this acquaintance ought to be as 
extensive and minute as we can acquire ; for this 



6 7 



volume is ultimate authority to the Christian min- 
ister. This volume is an ancient one, written in 
lanoma^es which have lon^ since ceased to be 
spoken, but to a knowledge of which we have all 
needed helps. It was written, too, at periods of 
history very remote from our own, and in a state of 
society, of manners and customs, widely different 
from ours. Dead languages, then, are to be learned, 
a knowledge of ancient history, manners, and cus- 
toms, is to be acquired, in order that the authorita- 
tive volume may be properly understood, and that 
the minister of religion may feel a satisfactory 
assurance, that, in his instructions, he is really 
following the oracles of God. 

It is true that this authoritative volume has been 
translated into our language, and that we are amply 
furnished in our own lansruasfe with works which 
make us acquainted with that wide compass of col- 
lateral knowledge which is so important to the com- 
plete elucidation of the Scriptures. But whether in 
our own language, or in others, an adequate knowl- 
edge of the Bible, and of matters pertaining to it, 
is of wide extent, and requires time and diligence. 
We may safely proceed on the presumption, in re- 
gard to large masses of ministers, that our translation 
is an adequate one for the ordinary uses of Christians 
and ministers, because, by common consent, it is a 



68 



good exhibition of the veritable word of God in 
every thing that is essential to righteousness and 
salvation. Still further : we might hold the same 
position on the ground that true religion is spiritual ; 
that it is to be found in the moral principles and 
affections, not in the intellect, least of all in mere 
external proprieties ; and that the moral principles 
and affections, in other words, the character, may be 
right, such as God approves, and such as the nature 
of heaven's employments and happiness require, 
while there may be a destitution of knowledge that 
would wholly disqualify one to be set in certain 
circumstances, for the defence of the gospel. 

Making these allowances, with all sincerity and 
cheerfulness, and with gratitude too, (for it is cer- 
tainly a cause for gratitude, that, situated as men are, 
religion is a matter of experience, not of speculation ; 
of the heart, not of the head), it must be remembered 
that I am here exhibiting, not the minimum of 
ministerial qualifications, nor that amount and kind 
of knowledge which would make a man a safe 
and even highly useful minister, but the qualification 
which the nature of the office seems to require for 
the most satisfactory and useful performance of its 
duties. And certainly, this is the standard to which 
all should aspire who are to bear the responsibilities 
of the Christian ministry, and the standard which 



69 



those should keep in view who are in any very 
direct way intrusted with the training of men for 
the ministerial office. And in this view, I cannot 
but think that every considerate man will regard the 
ability to read the Word of God as it came from 
inspired men, as properly embraced in the range of 
theological studies, and as holding a place primary 
in point of time and of importance. He who 
possesses not this ability, is necessarily dependent 
on intermediate human aid for his knowledge of 
God's word. This aid may be of the right kind, 
and may place him substantially on the same 
ground he would occupy, if, without it, an inspired 
hand had led him. But how much more suitable to 
his high vocation it would be to derive his knowl- 
edge from Paul than from Paul's translators ! 
Besides, every human work is imperfect; and 
translations of the Bible have marks of human 
imperfection as well as translations of other books, 
and must admit of an appeal to the original word 
of God. While, also, the main truths and course of 
thought are properly exhibited in a translation, it 
will always be found difficult, sometimes perhaps 
impossible, to preserve in a translation many of the 
shades and comprehensions of thought which charac- 
terize the original, and which would be of immense 
value to the religious teacher. Besides, he who 



habitually reads the Scriptures in the original 
languages, finds abundantly more food for reflection, 
and is set in a more attentive, observant, contempla- 
tive frame of mind, and finds in the very words and 
clauses of the sacred writer far more numerous and 
more satisfactory means of understanding the mind of 
the Spirit than could exist in a translation, or what 
would strike the mind of a person who was reading 
only a translation. 

With great propriety, then, is a theological course 
commenced with the study of the languages in 
which the inspired volume was written. And it is 
a gratifying thought, that, in these commencing 
studies, not only a knowledge of a particular lan- 
guage is acquired, but at every step an acquaintance 
with the word of God itself is advanced ; and a 
process is commenced which should be continued 
and occupy a large space during the entire course 
of theological education. For, certainly, nothing can 
supersede the direct study of the sacred volume ; 
nor can any adequate compensation be made for a 
lack of acquaintance with it, or of a spirit imbued 
with its teachings. 

Connected with the study of the original Scrip- 
tures, a wise method will include instruction in the 
collateral branches of history and geography, so 
far as the elucidation of the sacred volume requires. 



7i 

Other topics, also, are commonly included under 
the head of Biblical Literature, which certainly 
ought to be provided for in an ample theological 
course of study, but which cannot be well specified 
here. I have not mentioned particularly, the study 
of principles of interpretation, though they pro- 
fessedly claim great attention, and cannot, of 
course, be safely disregarded in our reading of any 
book. But the study of principles of interpretation, 
apart from the copious, direct study of the Scriptures, 
is of questionable utility. It is an erroneous idea, 
that we must construct a system of exegetical princi- 
ples, and then conform our mode of explaining the 
Scriptures to that system. Correct principles of 
interpretation, when the original language is under- 
stood, and collateral knowledge is possessed, will 
almost inevitably be applied, when the effort is 
simply and honestly to ascertain what a writer 
means to say. Besides, a certain tact at understand- 
ing a certain book or set of authors is insensibly 
acquired in the habitual honest and earnest study of 
that book or of those authors. 

Next in the order of nature, to the study of the 
sacred volume itself, is the classifying and arranging 
of its instructions. In this process, a systematic 
view is attempted of the revelations of the divine 
word respecting God and man, and their mutual 



7 2 

relations, the moral state and prospects of man, and 
the divine arrangement for his recovery to holiness, 
and all those subjects, which, with different degrees of 
detail, belong to an harmonious scriptural theology. 
In discovering the instructions of the Scriptures on 
these subjects, and in apprehending their connec- 
tions and relations, ample scope is given to the 
human intellect ; and the most vigorous exercise of 
its acutest powers is demanded. On some of these 
subjects, too, light is shed from the works and ways 
of God, which the active mind of man must concen- 
trate, and set in combination with the light that 
beams from the book of God. The soul within us, 
too, the intelligent product of creating Wisdom, has 
its own independent testimony to bear to many of 
the subjects embraced in this combined view of 
Scripture doctrine ; and, if allowed to utter unbi- 
assed testimony, it will be the echo of God's own 
voice. In discovering divine truth, then, and in 
attempting rightly to apprehend its proportions and 
relations, and to exhibit a consistent, harmonious 
whole, what demand there is for a cultivated, well- 
balanced, and well-directed intellect! and in these 
days of wild speculation, as well as of professed 
honest scepticism, and of truly earnest and con- 
scientious inquiry after sacred truth, how deficient 
must a course of theological education be that does 



73 

not provide amply for a well-considered logical, as 
well as philological exhibition, vindication and con- 
firmation of the various particulars embraced in 
Christian Theology ! 

It should here be distinctly stated, lest the pre- 
ceding view should seem to draw too much from 
the resources of the human intellect, that, without 
the authoritative word of God, the human intellect 
would be sadly at a loss in replying to its own 
anxious inquiries on many religious points, and, as 
experience abundantly shows, would wander into 
darkness that would but thicken on its course. In 
this class of subjects, the human reason has first to 
inquire, Is the Bible a revelation from God ? and 
then, reverently bow to its dictates ; at the same 
time earnestly seeking, and gratefully accepting, all 
the declarations or intimations that come from 
creation and providence, from outward nature, and 
from that most instructive consciousness, which, if 
purified from prejudice and sin, gives prompt and 
safe responses. Making divine revelation the ulti- 
mate authority, human reason may task its strong- 
est powers in theological investigations, without 
fear. And such investigations are most happily fitted 
to teach a sober, considerate mind the true province 
of human reason ; for such a mind will speedily 
reach the principle couched in our Saviour's thanks- 



74 

giving to the Father, " Thou hast hid these things 
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
unto babes." 

Ecclesiastical history naturally comes within the 
range of a theological education; for this presents 
us with the history of Christianity in the diversified 
social and civil states of men, since its introduction, 
and illustrates its new-creating power in moulding 
human opinion and character. The preacher of 
Christianity ought to understand its appropriate 
and actual influences on human character and con- 
dition, and the influences of the human mind on 
Christianity, both as distorting its doctrines, and as 
bringing into more deservable prominence various 
elements of the Christian system according as the 
tide of human affairs disclosed more fully one or 
another doctrine, or set of doctrines. The whole 
system of Christianity is thus gradually unfolding 
itself in connection with divine providence ; and the 
well-furnished and careful student of ecclesiastical 
history has the means of forming a well-proportioned 
and well-balanced view of Christian principles, far 
more than a person who simply contemplates the 
Bible, or who studies the Bible solely under the influ- 
ences which his own times are exerting on him. I 
know it may be said that a knowledge of history can 
be obtained after the close of a regular course of 



75 

study, and that it need not occupy any of the time 
which should be spent in laying the foundations of 
ministerial usefulness. It is, however, an errone- 
ous remark. The vast majority of theological stu- 
dents who neglect ecclesiastical history during their 
professional studies will always neglect this branch 
of study, or will cultivate it to little purpose. The 
proper connection of events, and of events with 
opinions and practices, will most likely be over- 
looked, and the study fail to accomplish what it 
might, under the guidance of a well-informed and 
philosophical mind. 

No arrangements can be regarded as complete, for 
theological study, without special and ample provis- 
ion for instruction on the structure, composition, 
and delivery of sermons. The unspeakable impor- 
tance of the pulpit itself demands this ; and the 
prevailing habits and manners of this age render it 
imperiously necessary. Rhetorical instruction to 
candidates for the ministry is unspeakably impor- 
tant, not to impart polish and show to sermons, 
but to convey right notions of a sermon and of 
preaching; and that wrong notions prevail to a 
great extent is obvious to every one who can 
reason and compare. The turgid and flashy pro- 
ductions which sometimes gain notoriety for their 
authors are not the sermons which true rhetoric 



76 

would approve. The various notions as to style, 
and even structure, which young men contract 
in their earlier education, or imbibe from living 
examples, or from books, need to be corrected in 
*order to their highest usefulness. And where such 
notions, happily, have never gained place, it is still 
true, that special instruction, of a judicious charac- 
ter, on preaching, is always in place, and contributes 
most directly to the legitimate purpose of the pulpit. 
Whatever may be the abstract notions of some 
men as to the real or the relative importance of in- 
struction on the preparation of sermons, the experi- 
ence and observation of men who have been actu- 
ally engaged in imparting such instruction cannot 
but deeply impress their minds with its importance 
and necessity, and excite in them the lamentation 
that this part of ministerial preparation is so exten- 
sively and so sadly misapprehended as to its pur- 
pose, and so greatly underrated. In our own de- 
nomination, after all the progress which has been 
made in the qualifications of the ministry, the stan- 
dard of the pulpit is lamentably low ; the prepara- 
tion of sermons is made too light a work; and- the 
most superficial qualities are still too attractive both 
to minister and to people. And the sad results 
of this are seen in the very feeble real hold which 
vast multitudes of our ministers have on the intel- 



77 

lect and conscience of their hearers. They are not 
giants : they are pigmies, stretching themselves 
beyond their due proportion. They have been 
pushed to a premature growth ; and vigorous pro- 
duction must not be expected from them. They 
may please; but they do not edify : they may gratify 
a perverted taste ; but they do not minister to the 
growth of the intellect, the quickening of the con- 
science, the rectifying of the affections. Proper 
rhetorical instruction would apply a remedy to such 
disorders, and would cultivate a sound and healthful 
exercise of sound and vigorous faculties. 



EXPOSITORY LECTURE. 

" The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest 
forever, after the order of Melchisedec." — Ps. ex. 4. 

This Psalm has for its subject the Messiah, who, 
as to his human nature, was to be a descendant of 
David, while at the same time, as possessing a divine 
nature, he would be the Lord of David. This 
remarkable union of inferiority and of superiority 
to David is the ground of the inquiry put by our 
Lord to his Jewish opposers, " What think ye of the 
Christ, the Messiah? Whose son is he? " Having 
obtained from them the acknowledgment that the 
Messiah was to be a son of David, he asked, " How, 
then, doth David, his distinguished regal ancestor, 
call him Lord, saying in the first verse of the Psalm, 
'Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right 
hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool ' ? " 

Besides the proof thus furnished, that the inspired 
writer had the Messiah in view, the Epistle to the 
Hebrews repeatedly speaks of Jesus as having, after 
offering himself up once as a sacrifice for sins, 



79 

ascended. to the holy of holies in heaven, there to 
appear as the high priest of God's people, interced- 
ing in their behalf, procuring mercy for them, and 
grace to aid them in all their difficulties. The 
Epistle takes the position that thus was fulfilled the 
declaration, " Jehovah hath sworn, and will not 
repent, Thou art a priest forever, after the order of 
Melchisedec." 

This verse is a divine announcement, strength- 
ened with the solemnity of an oath, that the Mes- 
siah whom the royal Psalmist acknowledged as his 
Lord, and who was to sit at the right hand of Jeho- 
vah, participating in the government of the universe, 
was to be a priest also, thus combining in his per- 
son regal power and dignity with the tenderness 
and condescension of a priest. He was to be a 
priest, " a priest forever, after the order of Mel- 
chisedec." 

I. That the Messiah should bear the priestly 
office was required by the object which he was to 
accomplish. He w 7 as to save his people from their 
sins ; that is, from the condemnation which they 
had incurred by their sins, and from the sway of sin 
in their souls. Agreeably to the divine economy 
instituted through Moses, the priests were ap- 
pointed to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins, and 
to superintend the rites by which ceremonial defile- 



8o 



ment might be removed, and the favor of God as 
to a standing in the Jewish community might be 
recovered. So the Messiah, in order to procure 
forgiveness of sins, and acceptance with God, — a 
forgiveness and acceptance dimly shadowed forth 
by the remission of the temporal penalties of the 
Mosaic law, — was to be a priest, so as to offer up his 
availing sacrifice, — a sacrifice also dimly shadowed 
forth by the Mosaic sacrifices. Having made this 
offering, he was truly occupying the position 
which was merely typified by the Jewish high 
priest, to act as Mediator between God and men, 
securing for them saving mercy and grace. 

That Christ, exalted to the right hand of God, as 
king, was to be priest, as well as king, was symboli- 
cally predicted also ages after the date of this Psalm, 
towards the end of the Babylonian exile, by the 
prophet Zechariah, vi. 9-13. By divine direction, 
the prophet took silver and gold, and made crowns ; 
and, setting them on the head of Joshua, son of the 
high priest, he said to him, " Thus speaketh the 
Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name 
is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his 
place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord : 
even he shall build the temple of the Lord; 
and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule 
upon his throne; and he shall be spriest upon his 



8i 



throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between 
them both." The Messiah is here symbolized. He 
was to be both a king and a priest ; and, by the joint 
exercise of the priestly and the regal offices, he was 
to accomplish the purpose of peace ; that is, the 
purpose of reconciliation between God and man. 

Since the office of high priest was the highest spir- 
itual elevation, as was the regal office the highest 
civil elevation, the uniting of both in the person of 
Christ was the conferring on him of double honor. 
It was also an assurance that every requisite was 
provided for the deliverance of his people from evil, 
and for their attaining the highest spiritual and 
eternal good, so that no failure can be suffered by 
those who come to God through him. 

II. The Messiah was to be a priest forever ; i.e., 
agreeably to the teaching in the Epistle to the 
Hebrews, he was to be permanently, from age to 
age, through all the generations of the human 
family, the priest for his people. Mere human 
priests, though appointed by divine authority, could 
not, in consequence of being mortal, abide perma- 
nently, or for any great length of time, in their 
office. They must surrender it to the hands of suc- 
cessors ; and thus, age after age, repeated changes 
must take place. Sometimes, indeed, the change 
would be for the advantage of the people, since 



82 



the priest might not have in desirable measure 
the qualifications most necessary to his office ; and 
his discharge of the office might be greatly improved 
on by a successor. Sometimes, the change would 
be greatly to the detriment of the people, since the 
succeeding priest might be lamentably deficient 
in the knowledge of human wants, in the tender- 
ness and condescension, in the assiduous and 
unwearying patience, in the devout spirit toward 
God and the benevolence toward men, which might 
have characterized his predecessor, and which would 
be essential to the profitable administration of the 
priesthood. To become sufficiently acquainted on 
the part of the people, with a new priest, and to 
repose confidence in him with entire satisfaction, 
may have occasioned much solicitude to many a 
contrite and desponding suppliant for divine favor ; 
and, on the part of a priest succeeding to the office, 
it would not be surprising if experience in his new 
position would be requisite before he could worthily 
and profitably discharge his duties. 

But Messiah's priesthood is not an earthly one, 
liable to the changes of this mortal state. Having 
once offered up himself as the sacrificial victim, he 
entered on an unending priesthood in heaven, and 
ever liveth to make availing intercession for us. 
He personally will save to the uttermost, will carry 



83 



salvation, through to the very end, and leave nothing 
incomplete for those who come to God through him 
for pardon and redemption. 

Besides his divine insight into the wants of 
humanity, and his personal experience of human 
nature on earth, he has now, for long, successive 
ages, held this relation of endearment and spiritual 
power. In committing our case to him, we do not 
come to One who is ignorant, inexperienced, un- 
skilful, but to One who has already carried through 
to completion the spiritual interests of numberless 
millions, vast multitudes of whom were in more 
necessitous and trying circumstances than fall to our 
lot. Through all coming time, and as long as the 
intervention of an availing priest will be required, 
he, he alone, is to be the sure, unfailing object of 
human trust. " Thou art a priest forever? 

III. We now come to the clause, " After the order 
of Melckisedec." The word " order," here, is liable to 
obscurity, as it seems to involve a series of priests* 
The word " rank " would be preferable, since it more 
naturally conveys the idea of position, and may be 
used concerning an individual, as well as concerning 
a collection or a succession of persons. Still more 
preferable, however, would be the general expres- 
sion which the learned in the Hebrew language 
regard as harmonious with the original Hebrew 



84 



word ; namely, after the manner of; that is, similar 
to, as it is expressed in Heb. vii. 14; after the 
similitude, the likeness, of Melchisedec. " Thou art 
a priest forever, after the manner of Melchisedec." 
This distinguished person was an object of 
resemblance which might assist in the proper 
apprehension of the Messiah as priest. 

If, now, we ask wherein consists the resemblance 
of the Messiah-priest to Melchisedec, or, rather, in 
what respects the priesthood of Melchisedec illus- 
trates that of Christ, the reply is easy. It has 
already been anticipated. According to the brief 
historical account of this person in Gen. xvi. 18-20, 
Melchisedec was a king ; and, in union with the 
dignity and power of a king, he had the dignity and 
power and tenderness of a priest whom the Most 
High acknowledged. So Jesus was exalted to the 
right hand of the Majesty on high, as partaker of 
the divine throne, all power in heaven and on earth 
having been committed to him, — head over all things 
for his people, King of all kings, Lord of all lords ; 
and with this kingly authority is conjoined the 
relation of priest ; so that what his priestly affec- 
tion seeks for his people his kingly power secures 
for them. It is observable, that this point of resem- 
blance, the more obvious one, is not particularly 
stated, much less minutely dwelt upon, in the Epistle 



85 



to the Hebrews, where the priestly character and 
position of Christ are so prominently exhibited. 
But, though not particularly stated, it is perpetually 
implied, since Jesus is there perpetually spoken of 
as exalted on high, as seated at the right hand of 
God, as crowned with glory and honor, and as 
awaiting the sure consummation of having all 
things subjected under him. It is, then, as Messi- 
anic king that his priesthood comes in. to complete 
his investiture of office. There is no deficiency of 
representation in the Epistle ; for, while this point 
is thus perpetually interwoven, the Hebrews did not 
need instruction in regard to it so much as they did 
in regard to the other point of resemblance between 
Melchisedec and Christ, which is distinctly and 
effectively presented ; namely, the perpetual dura- 
tion of the Messiah's priesthood. " Thou art a priest 
forever ;" a priest who never ceases from his office, 
who never yields it up to other hands, who never 
subjects the objects of his priestly regard to the 
hazard of being cared for by one less powerful, less 
compassionate, and whose sacrifice must be less 
availing. This is the point of resemblance on 
which the Epistle particularly dwells. The resem- 
blance, in this respect, between Melchisedec and 
Christ is not, if I may so say, so real as in the 
'other, since it consists in this, that the sacred his- 



86 



tory, while it so carefully mentions the death of the 
distinguished personages whose names it records, 
makes no mention of the death of Melchisedec, but 
speaks of him only as a living and acting priest of 
the Most High ; so that, in so far as reliable infor- 
mation concerning him sfoes, we do not know him 
as a mortal dying man, but only as a living man. 
But what was in this sense true of Melchisedec was 
really and positively true of Christ. He ever liveth, he 
is beyond the power of death ; and in that deathless 
state, not in the realm of mortality, he ever acteth as 
priest for the people of God. The coincidence as 
to the silence of history in the case of Melchisedec, 
and as to the reality in the case of Christ, while it may 
not seem to us, on casual observation, remarkably 
striking, would very differently strike a Hebrew 
mind. It was instinctively seized on by the writer to 
the Hebrews as one of those remarkable things on 
which the providence of God hinges great events. 
And even to us ; as I think will shortly appear, it 
was not without a great significance that Melchise- 
dec was introduced into the sacred history with so 
much brevity, that no one could learn from any 
records whether he ever came to an end of life. 

We have thus far discovered a partial solution of 
the fact that Melchisedec was selected as the person 
to whose official capacity as priest the priesthood of 



87 



the Messiah was to bear a striking resemblance. 
But, further than this, it must be considered that he 
is the only person in sacred history who bore the 
conjoined offices of king and priest of the true God. 
It is indeed said by antiquarians, that, in the earliest 
times, kings performed priestly services as a part of 
their duties ; but in sacred history, so far as I am 
aware, we have only this one instance of a king 
who was at the same time an acknowledged priest 
of the true God, And in the divine arrangement 
for the priestly office in the Hebrew nation, a 
marked distinction, separation, indeed, was made 
between the offices of king and of priest : so 
much so, that, should a king venture to assume the 
performance of a priestly act, the displeasure of God 
would be signally manifested. Thus Saul, the first 
Hebrew monarch, in a time of great distress, 
anxiously waiting the arrival of Samuel, ventured, 
in his impatience, to offer up a sacrifice ; but Sam- 
uel, on his arrival, sternly rebuked the king as 
having acted impiously, (i Sam. xiii. 8-14.) But 
the brief paragraph which is devoted to Melchi^e- 
dec, in the sacred records, presents him as acceptably 
sustaining the two offices, — an acknowledged priest 
of the Most High, as well as a king. 

As further accounting for this selection of Mel- 
chisedec, I observe that the Epistle to the Hebrews 



88 



presents a train of signal coincidences between Mel- 
chisedec and Christ, which cannot fail to strike an 
attentive reader as indicating a special arrangement 
of divine providence, by which this man should bear 
a special and unique resemblance to the Messiah. 
One of those coincidences is found in the name of 
this remarkable man, which etymologically signifies 
king of righteousness i that is, righteous king. An- 
other is in his official title, King of Salem, that is, 
king of peace, or peaceful king, since the word 
" Salem " has in the original langaiasfe the meaning 
peace. In correspondence with these items, Jesus is 
the perfectly righteous king, and the peaceful king, 
or, as we read in Isa. ix. 6, the Prince of peace. 
Besides, Melchisedec was without father, without 
mother, without any recorded descent ; that is, his 
name is found in no genealogical register, so that 
we cannot ascertain the name of his father or of his 
mother; and he stands forth, so far as the ordinary 
and reliable means of information are concerned, 
entirely separate from a progenitor, and is, so far as 
records are concerned, without a progenitor, with- 
out parentage. And thus he is without beginning 
of days, it being impossible to say when his days 
commenced ; and he is without end of life, since no 
record informs us whether his life ever ended. 
Thus, so far as the means of information go, we 



89 



have no. knowledge of his beginning or of his 
ending life. There is no record from which we 
can learn whether he had a beginning and an end- 
ing, like ordinary kings. Now, as the Orientals 
were peculiarly observant of pedigree, and with 
great care preserved registers of genealogy, the 
absence of all means of information concerning the 
parentage, the birth and the death, of Melchisedec, 
was a noteworthy fact, and would .naturally be 
regarded by an Oriental writer as a very significant 
fact in the case of any man whose character and 
whose position made him a man of mark. The 
writer to the Hebrews evidently regarded all these 
circumstances as specially arranged by the all-know- 
ing and all-controlling providence of God in order 
that this man might bear a special resemblance to 
the Son of God. What was literally and strictly 
true of Jesus, the Son of God — namely, that he was 
from eternity, without beginning of days, and with- 
out end of life — was, in a qualified sense, and in 
view of human sources of knowledge, true of this 
man ; so that by the wonderful arrangement of prov- 
idential circumstances, he was " made like unto the 
Son of God." And I cannot but think that this sig- 
nal clustering-together of coincidences between the 
Son of God and this venerable personage has a 
satisfactory solution only in the belief that he was 



90 

divinely ordained to be in character and office, and 
in the obscurity and mysteriousness which hang 
about his person, a type, from the earliest ages, of 
Him who was from everlasting, and who, in due 
time, was to be king and priest of the ransomed 
people of God. This is the more credible from the 
fact that Melchisedec was selected as a parallel with 
Christ, not by human invention, not by human 
imagining, but by the Lord himself, who announced, 
" Thou art a priest forever, according to the manner 
of Melchisedec." The whole declaration came from 
Jehovah ; and the divine mind here uttered its pur- 
pose in raising up Melchisedec, and arranging all 
the circumstances pertaining to him. 

In him we have a high priest, who is all sufficient 
for our necessities. He has suffered the availing 
sacrifice ; he has gone up into the presence of God, 
there to appear abidingly in our behalf. " He ever 
liveth to make intercession for us ; " his power is 
equal to his compassion, and he will secure for 
every constant believer the end of his faith, the sal- 
vation of his soul. And, since Jesus, the Saviour, 
addresses all who have read the messages of mercy 
with the authority of a king, as well as the tender- 
ness of a merciful high priest, let us not fail to give 
heed to the messages he has sent, lest, in righteous 
and inevitable retribution, we should fail of the 
heavenly blessings he promises. 



IMMUTABILITY OF GOD. 

" I am the Lord : I change not." — Mal. iii. 6. 

You have often observed the striking contrast 
between man and God presented in the 103d Psalm; 
" As for man, his davs are as grass : as a flower of 
the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth 
over it, and it is gone ; and the place thereof shall 
know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is 
from everlasting to everlasting." Man's brief con- 
tinuance in the present life is here contrasted with 
the ceaseless duration of the Lord's mercy. In the 
unchangeableness of the Divine Being how strongly 
is this contrast marked ! We are too ignorant and 
too impotent to be always of one mind. How 
often do we find, by taking counsel with others 
whose information and wisdom exceed our own, that 
we need to change our views ! As our mental 
powers expand, and our knowledge increases, we 
often abandon favorite positions, and have reason 
to say, " When I was a child, I spake as a child." 
Besides, in our limited range of knowledge and 



9 2 



power on earth, unforeseen circumstances often 
arise, which require an entire change of views and 
action. 

But there are no causes of change in the Divine 
Being. With him is no fickleness ; no ignorance 
of the past, the present, or the future. He is 
not dependent on progressive acquisitions of wis- 
dom or experience, nor on the opinions and will of 
other beings. In the language of the apostle James, 
" with him is no variableness, neither shadow of 
turning." 

To a consideration of the unchan^eableness of 
God permit me now to solicit your attention. 

What is meant by it ? On what grounds does 
it rest? After briefly noticing these inquiries, we 
shall be prepared to examine some of the difficulties 
and misapprehensions with which this subject is 
often encumbered. 

I. I remark, then, that God always was and 
always will be the same, as to the fact of his exist- 
ence. He did not begin to exist : he always was. 
He will never cease to exist. 

In like manner, he always was and always will be 
the same complete and perfect Being that he now is. 
All created beings had a beginning, and have passed 
through a changeful progress, in arriving at their 
present state. But never was there a period when 



93 

God was less intelligent, or less powerful, than he 
now is, or than he ever will be. His know T led^e was 
never less comprehensive, and never was he less 
than almighty. He was always so perfect in his 
essential nature. as not to admit, in any respect, of 
increased perfection. 

Being always the same in his nature, his princi- 
ples of government are never changed. Holiness 
is ever the object of his approval, and sin of his dis- 
pleasure. His recompenses always illustrate his 
love of holiness and his hatred of sin. Both in the 
natural world and the moral, the appropriate conse- 
quences of a given course, if persisted in, will surely 
follow ; for he will not alter the thing which has 
gone out of his lips. His justice will never be found 
too strict, nor will the pity, which belongs to his 
nature, be diminished or increased. His subjects 
will all be dealt with according to the unvarying 
principles which have from eternity guided the 
divine administration. 

Once more : he always adheres to the purposes 
which he has formed. He conceived, so to speak, 
a vast plan, including every creature and event, and 
extending through all duration. To this, he invari- 
ably adheres; and that plan, including, mysteriously 
indeed to us, the conscious free agency and responsi- 
bility of every moral intellectual creature, is gradu- 



94 

ally unfolding as to the regulation of the universe, 
the government of the human race, the redemption 
of his people, the rise and fall of empires, and the 
affairs of every individual. " The counsel of the 
Lord standeth forever ; the thoughts of his heart 
to all generations." 

This much, as to the meaning of the divine 
unchangeableness : God is always the same in his 
being, his character, his principles of government, 
and his purposes. 

II. Let us now pass to the second inquiry; 
namely, What are the grounds of the divine immu- 
tability ? 

God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe. All 
things are under his control; and he is infinitely 
superior to all other beings, they being dependent 
on him for their existence and their power. In 
this state of unapproachable supremacy, both as 
to power and as to wisdom, what possible interest 
can prevail against him ? What possible event, or 
conjuncture of events, can arise to thwart him, or 
induce him to recede from his purposes ? 

Let us look, also, at the supreme excellence of 
Jehovah. There is an old argument somewhat like 
the following : He possesses every possible perfec- 
tion in the highest possible degree. His moral ex- 
cellence, being infinite, does not admit of increase. 



95 

A change would be from perfect to imperfect, from 
infinite wisdom, goodness, and power, to finite wis- 
dom, goodness, and power. It would be a divesting 
himself of his essential character, and a ceasing to 
be God. Change, then, is, from the nature of the 
case, impossible. And, as all his principles and pur- 
poses are harmonious with his infinite perfections, 
those perfections obviously require his principles 
and purposes to be immutable. Suppose them 
changed. To what ? To better ? That cannot be. 
To less o;ood ? Who can for a moment harbor 
such a thought ? It is inconsistent with the in- 
finity of the divine perfections. 

To set this in a slightly different light, let us 
conceive of the Divine Being as infinitely just, 
wise, and good. Add to this, that he is almighty. 
Is not one thought more quite necessary to com- 
plete the idea of perfect excellence ? Imagine for 
a moment, I speak it with reverence, that this 
just, wise, good, powerful Being was changeable, 
that you had no security of his continuing as 
he now is. How unsafe your individual inter- 
ests ! How unsafe would be all the interests of 
the universe ! How devoid of a protector would be 
the universe ! But add to those excellences, the 
thought that, He who possesses them always pos- 
sessed them, and always will possess them, without 



9 6 



diminution or change, and you place the keystone 
in the arch of the divine perfections. You can then 
adopt, in all the fulness of its meaning, that declara- 
tion of Moses, Jehovah is " the Rock, his work is 
perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of 
truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." 
With Him, we can joyfully say, is no variableness. 

III. We may now proceed to consider some 
of the difficulties and misapprehensions which are 
often connected with this subject. 

Some passages of Scripture seem to conflict with 
the sentiment of God's immutability. He is said 
in various places to repent. How are we to under- 
stand such declarations in harmony with the senti- 
ment, that with God there is no variableness ? Now, 
in reference to such passages, we must ascertain 
what are the ideas conveyed by this word when 
used concerning God, and then inquire whether 
those ideas are at variance with his unchangeable- 
ness. We shall see that the word conveys the idea 
of disapproval in respect to the sinful conduct of 
men, and that of compassion, when, in consequence 
of men's changing their course, God can regard 
them with favor. 

It is obvious, now, that his disapproval, by what- 
ever terms expressed, of men's sinful conduct in 
any instance, or his pity, however strongly assert- 



97 



ed towards those who repent of the evil of their 
doings, are by no means inconsistent with his un- 
changeableness. He is not represented as under- 
going change. His holy nature and principles 
make him always displeased with sin, and disposed 
to treat favorably, those who turn from a sinful course. 
In all such cases, though he employ language more 
appropriate strictly to finite intellect than to his 
infinite nature, and particularly adapted to human 
conditions, he yet exhibits his immutable nature. 
So far as change is concerned, the change takes 
place in men; and God's treatment of them, when 
they change, must vary according to the demands of 
his unchanging hatred of sin, and his love of holiness. 
The Divine Being may be represented with the 
most entire consistency, as experiencing the varied 
feelings which are so freely ascribed to him in the 
Bible, of complacency and displeasure, of approval 
and dislike, in accordance with the varying charac- 
ter and conduct of men. The manifestations of 
his unchangeable character must be diversified 
according to the diverse circumstances which call 
forth the exercise of his perfections. The sun is the 
unchanging source of light and heat. It remains 
the same ; its light and heat are the same : but how 
varying are the manifestations and effects of the 
sun, according to varying seasons and states of the 



earth and atmosphere ! God's perfections are always 
the same ; but the operation of them may be end- 
lessly diversified, according to the endless diversity 
of circumstances. The unchangeableness of God 
is not an unmovable placidity, a dull, uniform insen- 
sibility. On the contrary, with an immutable char- 
acter and system of government, he may be said to 
have an infinite variety of feelings, corresponding 
to the variety in the characters and conditions of 
his creatures. It is with reference to these varied 
feelings, that he is so often said to repent, and to be 
grieved. The diverse feelings, which correspond 
to the changes in character among his accountable 
creatures, are essential to the idea of a perfect Gov- 
ernor; without them, he would be imperfect; and 
they actually result from his unchangeable nature 
and purposes. We are, likewise, by such language 
concerning God, led to conceive of him, not as a 
heartless Being;, but as a Being: whose infinite wis- 
dom and justice are associated with inexpressible 
tenderness. We are also warned, not to separate 
this inexpressible tenderness from that unchanging 
justice and wisdom, with which it always acts in 
delightful accord. 

Again : unchangeableness may, in some minds, be 
equivalent to unlovely, arbitrary inflexibility. But 



99 

we must consider, that unchangeableness is not in 
itself, as absolutely considered, either commendable 
or otherwise. It has all its worthiness, from the 
kind of character and purposes about which it is 
affirmed. A being that is unchangeably bad, and 
whose purposes and actions are unchangeably bad, 
is so much the worse. But if a being is unchange- 
ably good, and his purposes are unchangeably 
good, this gives completeness to his excellence. 
Immutability is not obstinacy. You have now 
first to conceive of God as infinitely perfect ; 
and then you superadd to this infinite excel- 
lence the idea of unchanging continuance in it, 
and unchanging adherence to the purposes which 
it has led him to form. He is always the same in 
his character, because it is an infinitely perfect char- 
acter. He adheres to his purposes, because they 
are purposes of infinite wisdom and rectitude. In- 
deed, the whole excellence of his character and 
purposes is so connected with his wise and volun- 
tary adherence to them, that the slightest departure 
would argue imperfection. Picture to yourselves a 
man of uncommon mental power, knowledge, and 
experience. Let a subject be presented to him 
which is entirely within the compass of his mind. 
He has his opinion; and he adheres to it. Why ? 
Because he is obstinate ? Far from it. He is more 

Lara 



IOO 



open to conviction, and more ready to alter his 
views, if truth so require, than the weakest and 
most ignorant man in the community. No. He 
adheres to his opinion, because he is well convinced 
it is right ; and, if he should change, he would justly 
subject himself to the imputation of folly. 

God changes not, because his character and way 
are perfect: " a God of truth, just and right, is he." 
Plainly, also, his adherence to his purposes is not a 
reluctant adherence, but a voluntary one. The 
best of reasons exist for it. No reasons of justice, 
or benevolence, or expediency, can exist for chan- 
ging his mind or his course. 

It may possibly occur to some, that, if God is 
unchangeable, his existence must be monotonous, 
and therefore, as they might suppose, deficient in 
happiness. None of us would wish, of course, to 
indulge such a thought. But, should it arise, let us 
consider, that, though the Divine Being never under- 
goes a change in character or principles, yet he is 
carrying forward a vast system of operations, which 
presents every moment, some new development of 
his wisdom and power. The actual bringing into 
effect of what he had always purposed, may spread 
through his inconceivable mind delight, as much 
purer, and as much more satisfying, than any creat- 



IOI 



ed beings can enjoy, as He is higher and better 
than they. 

We sometimes say, that with God there is no past 
nor future, but all is one eternal now. There may 
be truth in this saying; but, speaking after a human 
mode of conception, we must not understand it as 
meaning that God sees things differently from 
what they really are. He sees the future as 
future. He knows, for instance, all the<men that will 
exist in the next century : he knows the character 
which each will have, the minutest acts of each, and 
the minutest events in reference to each. But those 
men are not yet in being; and what he beholds in 
the far distant future, as existing in his purpose and 
plan, will, in due time, actually exist under his 
observing eye. What scope, then, for divine happi- 
ness, in executing the designs of infinite wisdom 
and goodness ! A human architect, to illustrate 
this view by reference to men's affairs, forms the 
plan of a splendid palace. He determines its extent, 
and all of its proportions. The structure is all, within 
and without, in his mind's eye, from the lowest layer 
of foundation-stones to the very pinnacle. He 
knows what the edifice will be, and how it will 
appear. In due time, the work commences ; and at 
every advance, his original plan is exactly copied. 
Every successive day presents something new to 



102 



him, which yet he had long before contemplated ; 
every successive day imparts new satisfaction to his 
mind. And when the work is completed, though 
finished just according to his plan, I need not ask 
you, whether his mind is not filled with emotions 
of delight. 

The unchansceableness of God is sometimes 
regarded as inconsistent with the duty of prayer. 
But this thought misapprehends the design of 
prayer. Prayer is not offered, in order to produce a 
change in the divine mind, but in order to act in 
conformity with the unchanging requisition, that we 
ask if we wish to receive, and for the expression 
and cultivation of pious affections. The bestowal 
of blessings in answer to prayer, implies no change 
in the divine mind, but is an illustration of the 
abiding principle, that God hears and honors prayer, 
as a wise, good, firm parent grants favors to his 
children, when, and because they ask for them in a 
proper spirit. This does not imply that his pur- 
poses are changed, and that he is a fickle parent. 
So far from this, the more steady to judicious 
parental principles he is known to be, the greater is 
the encouragement for the children to make known 
their desires. 



io3 



Once more : the unchangeableness of God seems 
to be sometimes regarded as not altogether har- 
monious with the design of our Saviour's media- 
tion and death. Some of our hymns appear to 
imply that, God the Father has been changed by the 
Saviour's death, from a wrathful, or a simply just 
Being, to a merciful Being; or that, by the mediation 
of Christ, a change has been wrought in the divine 
administration, so that the mercy of the Son pre- 
vails over the justice of the Father. Thus, the 
Father is contemplated with dread, while the Son is 
regarded with opposite feelings. 

That no change was contemplated in the char- 
acter or principles of God, by the advent of his Son, 
is evident from the entire concord between the 
Father and the Son. " He that hath seen me," said 
our Lord, " hath seen the Father." He is the ex- 
press image of the Father, and the brightness of the 
Father's glory. The apparent difficulty may be 
obviated, by considering, that the unchanging good- 
ness or love of God prompted to the salvation of 
men. This love, however, does not act blindly, 
but in view of the entire, character and government 
of God, without disregarding justice, or invading 
the rights of any that are concerned. In the 
exercise of this original, unchanging love, the 
Father sent his Son into the world, in order that 



io4 



this exuberant goodness might be freely indulged, 
without interfering with the claims of justice. 
Hence the leading view which the New Testa- 
ment gives us of God is, " he is love." He so loved 
the world that he gave his only-begotten Son to 
die, the just for the unjust, that God might be just, 
and justify the ungodly who should become disci- 
ples of Jesus. The Saviour produced no alteration 
in the character or the principles of the Father ; 
but, in consequence of what Christ has done and 
suffered, the Father's original, unchanging mercy 
flows forth in a stream of bounty without conflict- 
ing with justice, — justice to himself, justice to his 
subjects. Not only does mercy, by this arrange- 
ment, not conflict with justice, it is in perfect 
accordance with it. 

Thus may we apply to the human family, what 
was primarily said to the remnant of Jews, returned 
from the Babylonian exile, " I am the Lord : I change 
not : thei'efore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." 
God is unchangeable in his compassion and good- 
will, and therefoix sent his Son to be the propitiation 
for our sins, that, in our salvation, justice and mercy 
might harmonize. 

Venerable Being ! The King eternal, unchange- 
able ! May we love, adore, submit, and be saved ! 



MEMORIALS. 

[The following report * of a committee previously appointed by the 
Baptist ministers of Boston and vicinity, was read and adopted by the 
ministers at their meeting last Monday morning.] 

We, the Baptist ministers of Boston and vicinity, assem- 
bled at our regular meeting, June 7, 1875, desire to give 
expression to our affectionate regard for the name of Prof. 
Henry J. Ripley, D.D., recently deceased, and to record our 
warm appreciation of his eminent services, and his godly 
character. 

Graduated at Harvard College, at the age of eighteen, he 
studied theology at Andover (as Baptist students were 
then compelled to do, our denomination having no seminary 
of its own), and was ordained to the ministry of the gospel 
in 1 8 19, at the age of twenty-one. For seven years, he 
labored as pastor, in Maine and Georgia; and in 1826, was 
invited to a professorship in Newton Theological Institu- 
tion, which had been established the previous year. He 
was associated in the work of instruction, with Prof. Irah 
Chase, of whom it was said, after his decease, " It would 
not be easy to name the individual of our own denomina- 
tion, or of any other, who has passed to his heavenly reward 

* The report was prepared by Rev. Henry M. King. 



io6 



leaving to public scrutiny and admiration a more unsullied 
record as a servant of Jesus Christ. Through more than 
fifty years he was known as a man of God, living for the 
highest ends, and uniformly honoring, by his faith and his 
practice, both the doctrines and the precepts of Christianity. 
His spirit was as evangelical as his creed ; and the word of 
life which he held forth by his lips and his pen was harmo- 
niously illustrated by him in all the departments of private 
and public activity." Prof. Ripley was equally worthy of 
the same high encomium. For thirty-four years, he labored 
as professor, occupying the various chairs of instruction, as 
the necessities of the Institution demanded, giving to the 
Institution all the energies and affections of a cultivated 
mind and a consecrated heart, sharing in all the early 
struggles which beset it, and largely ministering to its later 
prosperity and growth, in which none rejoiced more than 
he. When his strength began to fail, and he found himself 
unequal to the burdens of the professor's chair, he took great 
delight in serving the Seminary as its librarian, and carried 
to his new position the same spirit of fidelity which had 
characterized him before, and all the benefit of his wonder- 
fully exact and methodical mind, conscientiously applying 
himself to the minutest details of his work, and literally 
bringing order out of chaos. It may have added to the 
number of his days, as it certainly added to his happiness, 
that he was thus permitted to complete his life in the ser- 
vice of the Institution which he loved. 

Those of us who were permitted to sit at the feet of Prof. 
Ripley, to receive instruction from his lips, and feel the in- 
fluence of his devout and loving; spirit, will ever esteem it 



io7 



as one of the peculiar privileges of our lives ; and no words 
can give expression to the sense of our indebtedness to 
him. But we are not his only debtors. The whole de- 
nomination, and all lovers of revealed truth, have been 
placed under obligation to him, by reason of his published 
works in the departments of Biblical Exposition, Sacred 
Rhetoric, and Church Polity. These fruits of his labors 
will yet remain to perpetuate his memory and his useful- 
ness, more than speechless bust or silent monument ; and 
Prof. Ripley will long be held in grateful remembrance, as 
one of the most painstaking and conscientious students, one 
of the most careful and reverential interpreters, one of the 
wisest and best teachers. Not so profound as some teach- 
ers, perhaps, he was always clear and logical. Not coveting 
discussion, he entertained the firmest convictions of truth, 
and was always ready to defend them with the spirit of 
candor and love. He loved not controversy, but truth ; 
and believed that truth, clearly drawn from the word of 
God, and candidly stated, was its own best weapon for 
attack or defence. As the calm, dignified, and courteous 
expounder of our denominational tenets, his influence has 
been of inestimable value. 

But above the work of Prof. Ripley, great and valuable as 
that work has been, towers his personal character. To 
those who have known him intimately, the man will always 
seem greater and more admirable than his work. He was 
one of the purest, gentlest, saintliest of men, endowed 
richly with that love which "vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her 
own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." Humbly, 



io8 



and without ostentation, he filled the honorable place which 
Providence assigned to him. His spirit showed an unmis- 
takable and beautiful likeness to Him with whom he lived 
in constant communion. He seemed ever to move in the 
atmosphere of heaven. His smile was a perpetual bene- 
diction. His peaceful end was the fitting termination of a 
life which was pervaded with the calm and sanctifying 
trust of the gospel of Christ. We could wish that he had 
been spared to participate in the semi-centennial anniver- 
sary of the Institution, with whose history, almost from its 
beginning, he had been identified ; but God's time was to 
him the best time, and in man's judgment, few have been 
taken from the scenes of earth to the abodes of the re- 
deemed, who have been so completely clad in " the robe of 
readiness." 

" Of such as he was, there be few on earth ; 
Of such as he is, there be many in heaven ; 
And life is all the sweeter that he lived ; 
And all he loved more sacred for his sake ; 
And death is all the brighter that he died ; 
And heaven is all the happier that he's there." 

We would extend to the members of the bereaved family, 
an affectionate sympathy, in the loss which they have 
sustained. 



io9 



Newton Theological Institution, 
July 22, 1875. 

At a meeting of the Faculty of the Newton Theological 
Institution, the following resolutions were adopted in view 
of the recent death of the Rev. Henry J. Ripley, D.D., the 
second Professor in the Institution : — 

Resolved, 1. That, as we recall the connection of Dr. 
Ripley with this Institution during almost its entire history, 
we recognize his unselfish devotion to its highest interests. 
As a Professor, he was a laborious teacher, a wise coun- 
sellor, a kind-hearted and peace-loving associate ; as a 
Trustee, he was intelligent, discreet, and efficient in en- 
couraging a broad and healthy theological education ; as a 
Librarian, he was tireless, earnest, and successful. 

2. That by his clear, accurate, and judicious expositions 
of portions of the Sacred Scriptures, and by his catholic 
defence of the special beliefs of his own denomination, he 
has given it reason to cherish his memory with honor and 
gratitude. 

3. That by his uniform courtesy and Christian spirit, 
manifested in all the walks of life, he exhibited the fruits of 
a cheerful piety, and proved himself a disciple whom Jesus 
loved. 

4. That, by his death, the Institution has lost a genuine 
friend the Baptist denomination, a distinguished scholar ; 
and Christians of every name, a lover of truth and of sound 
learning. 

5. That a copy of these resolutions be presented to his 



I IO 



family as a slight expression of our regard for one whose 
memory to us is precious. 

A. Hovey. 

H. Lincoln. 

S. L. Caldwell. 

O. S. Stearns. 



Haverhill, June iS, 1875. 

My dear Madam, — At the annual meeting of the Board 
of Trustees of the Newton Theological Institution, held on 
the 8th instant, it was ordered that the following record be 
made concerning one whom we all loved and honored, and 
that a copy of the same be communicated to yourself and 
family, with assurances of respect, and sincere sympathy 
with you in your great bereavement. 

" Amid the general success of the Institution, God has 
ordained that we should hold this semi-centennial meeting 
of our Institution under the influence of the recent and 
quite unlooked-for loss of one of our number, who was the 
senior of all of us in his connection with this school of 
sacred learning. Rev. Dr. H. J. Ripley, so long a learned, 
laborious, honored, and useful instructor in the Institution, 
and to the last, both as Trustee and Librarian, so com- 
petent, and conscientiously faithful to his duties, is absent 
from his place among us to-day. We part with him with a 
regret in which only his own family, and the church in this 
place can go beyond us. While doing so, it is our prayer 
and hops, that in this most important field of labor, where 



1 1 1 



it has been our privilege and honor to be associated with 
this excellent man, we shall never cease to feel the influence 
of his Christian spirit, and cheerful, hearty devotion to the 
service of our Lord and his church." 

Respectfully and truly yours, 

Geo. W. Bosworth. 

Mrs. H. J. Ripley, Newton Centre. 

A true copy of record. 
Attest : 

Geo. W. Bosworth, 

Secretary N. T. I. 



PUBLICATIONS. 

The published writings of Prof. Ripley consist of several 
articles in " The American Baptist Magazine " and in "The 
Christian Review," one in the " Bibliotheca Sacra" (vol. 
4), a sermon at the ordination of Rev. James Shannon, 
another at the ordination of Rev. Calvin Newton, on " The 
Characteristics of the Minister's Work," another, entitled 
" Hints on the Promotion of Piety in Ministers of the 
Gospel," preached before the Conference of Baptist Min- 
isters in Boston, May 29, 1832, and the following more 
elaborate works : — 

1. Memoir of Rev. Thomas S. Winn. 

2. Christian Baptism : an Examination of Prof. Stuart's 
Essay on the Mode of Baptism. 

3. Notes on the Four Gospels. 

4. Notes on the Acts of the Apostles. 

5. Notes on the Epistle to the Romans. 

6. Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews, with new transla- 
tion. 

7. Sacred Rhetoric ; Composition and Delivery of Sermons. 

8. Exclusiveness of the Baptists ; Review of Rev. " A. 
Barnes's Pamphlet on Exclusivlsm. 

9. Church Polity : a Treatise on Christian Churches and the 
Christian Ministry. 

He also edited " Campbell's Lectures on Systematic The- 
ology," and Rev. Francis Mason's " Karen Apostle." 



H 










^ 



***•* 



1 ^^?^r^0^!S8s 


IrJIlis 


?*1 




■ s-rjk v* 


mR fl&SK y23 


■ 1 4k« s~*r* 


► vMnm KE1 


wftSiT ) »xSJ2awH'«tTIH 


KB fryfir 1 " tNv 1 


■ 


1 H 


l£Ss®§ mi 


11111* 


^^s 


i HUH 



>»- 



nv 






H 




h KB Bl 

9HHBBH 



9hw« 








Bi W£ 




H 




JmSmmBEm 


j*Pfi 


Hi 




V'y ^.fifBfl 




|H^B 


fljnMi 


i^^^^H^^Hn 


rJMH 


MLfflE 


^^H 


WMl 






JBtm 


hBSkI 


B8I 


BR 


^Ei 


^^■^^^^b^h 








HHHH| 


HS 




Baft! 


K^^^hH^HBb^B 






BBS 


HiwBb 








hhb 






^BSS 










B! 


H 


^b&B 


Bi^BHB&&2l 








I HflE 


s$e 


Eh 








BH 


jBB 


■ . ■ ■ 
1 ^B 




H 


jn 


•"''. 


ml 




w»K 




CnA 


BH 








mam 





wm m 



